Shades of Grey
by Dante Lewis
Summary: Sequel to White Shadows. 10 years have passed since the final battle. Children as we knew them have grown & had their own. Loved ones have been lost & remembered. In a peaceful world where darkness fades, a miracle unveils a truth that will rock them all
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **If it were mine, I could pay off my mortgage in less than a minute. Then I could quit work and write FF in cafes all day... in scotland, no less. *sigh* Alas, I've more chance of picking ear wax out of my ears than my bank accepting your reviews as payment on said mortgage.

**Author's Note: **Well, it's been what, three years (OMG _that_ long?) since I put the character of Estella Black to bed. To be honest, I never intended to continue with the 'verse I created but I guess you don't have a character embed itself in your head for two years without developing some form of attachment. I started out writing about the character Estella in December 2004, as a means to get through what was then the first Christmas without my mother. Now maybe it's my muse having a nostalgic moment, or perhaps the move back to Australia after two years in my favourite place in the world (the UK, of course) has me working through a parallel sense of loss; fact remains I've been toying with the idea of a 'grown up' Estella for a while and think it's high time she came out to play.

Unlike my previous ventures, wherein I started posting only after the story was complete, I have made the rather bold decision to share my work whilst it is still in progress. I don't really know where it will end up, and I apologise in advance if life, or my muse, imposes a hiatus; but I hope you will join me on this new journey and I look forward to the feedback that will no doubt help shape the outcome of this story.

**Please Note: **Takes place roughly 12-13 years after the events at the end of 'White Shadows', which in itself was a combination of canon events in both OotP and HBP, only (all) set in Harry's 5th year (Estella's 4th). _**According to the Canon timeline (DH) it picks up little under 11 years after the final battle.**_

**Updated: Sunday 20 June 2009**

**Prologue: Where the improbable becomes a possibility...**

**The Lazarus Effect: Necromancy or Miracle?**

Charlie Weasley glanced upon the headline of that morning's _Prophet_, his expression rueful. His father's ties with Minister Shacklebolt's office had assured him some advance notice of the strange admissions at St. Mungo's, but seeing it there in print made it seem all the more real. With the Dark Lord long gone, the last of his followers now rotting away in Azkaban, the darkness that had overshadowed Magical society for generations had dissipated to such a point that certain spells once cast with intent to last forever were beginning to lose their effect.

It started with the Longbottoms. Frank and Alice – Neville's parents – who had been irrevocably scarred from Cruciatus exposure; after almost three decades no one expected them to regain any noticeable form of awareness, let alone cognitive ability. Yet they awoke. As though emerging from a fuzzy dream – one where they had been detachedly conscious of their surroundings but powerless to communicate – Hogwarts' newest Herbology teacher suddenly had his parents back. Nothing untoward was made of the occasion; the event marked as a medical marvel, one for the books, and people went on about their lives.

Then the rumours began. Random whispers of witches and wizards who resembled the dead showing up on the doorsteps of their last recorded abode, seemingly years out of time. In every single one of the scattered occurrence, the 'unidentified' person was sequestered to a secure ward at St. Mungo's for the purposes of Ministry-supervised identification verification. With the alleged families of those involved not due to be informed until 'all avenues of inquiry' had been explored, the Ministry had done a fine job in keeping the events 'need-to-know' – even deploying a team of Unspeakables to head up the cases – until, it seems, now. An overlooked second-cousin-in-law of one of the rumoured 'returnees' worked for a maintenance crew contracted by the hospital and had, by chance, recognised a likeness to their departed cousin in one of the patients; the astute wizard putting the pieces together when other faces he'd seen in the ward that day bore similar likenesses to others made notorious by their deaths in the Great War.

Undoubtedly, this was not the first time an unaurthorised civilian had lain eyes upon something the Ministry was struggling to keep secret – even from many of its own constituents – but whereas earlier discoveries may have led to an instant confrontation and swift Obliviation, no one had seen the wizard in question on the ward, and rather than approach his own superiors, tell them of his observations, he shared them instead with some of the families of people he had supposedly recognised, starting the rumours.

Friendlier associations between government and press ensured that, with due warning of the imminent news story, the Ministry could accelerate its program to formally identify and re-integrate the 'returned' into Magical society. Looking upon the three people that now graced his living room - one he'd once known, the others from reputation alone – Charlie Weasley found himself at a impasse. For each of the returned before him, there existed someone close to him who would be duly effected by the news; all three of the loved ones in question presently enjoying an aptly timed visit to Muggle London. Addressing his unlikely house guests, Charlie cleared his throat and spoke.  
"I know the Ministry debrief included recent history, but I think perhaps I should shed a little firsthand perspective before bringing our family home," he suggested. "Some questions may be better asked of me than those you are primarily here to see, as I am sure you can imagine this news will be rather overwhelming for them."

Three heads nodded, the colours of their hair as different as night and day. Glancing at them one by one, Charlie inwardly marvelled at his captive audience; never in his wildest dreams having ever imagined imparting his family history to the likes of Remus Lupin, James and Lily Potter.

"It began, really, at the end of the war..." he began.

End Prologue.

A/N: How 'bout Charlie? No, I never thought I'd pull him out of the hat, either...


	2. Truth Will Out

**Disclaimer: All right, I forgot this in the Prologue. If it were mine, do you really think I'd have boarded that plane back to Australia? ****Don't I just *wish* I was making money off this. Maybe then I wouldn't be developing an ulcer because of this blasted money pit of a house I live in... grrrrrrrr**

**Updated: Monday 29 June 2009  
**

**Chapter One: Truth will Out**

'Magic Reversal Squad called out to the museum and _still_ he takes them for ice cream! I refuse to be a part of it!'  
Estella's voice reached their ears as the woman let herself in the front door, grumbling.

Charlie leaped up to intercept his partner in the hallway.  
'What happened?'  
The others overheard their host greet the apparent mother of his children, a brief pause punctuating the exchange of affection.

'Jamie and Sirius thought it funny to reanimate the Lewis Chessmen – though how a Wizarding Chess set found its way into the Muggle side of the British Museum is beyond me," they could hear Estella explain. There was another brief pause and rustling of clothes as the witch removed her outer layers. "Anyway, since the promise of ice cream was assured if the kids did no _Accidental_ Magic, they had Harry over the barrel – but then the department's most lauded Auror has always been a soft touch when it comes to the devil spawn-'

Charlie chuckled.  
'They'd better not hear you call them that, it might give them a complex-'

'-Or ideas!'

'Well with names like theirs' and George as a godfather could we really have expected any less?'

'Hmmm... how have the twins been?'  
There was an exhausted sigh as Estella asked after the twin toddlers the listening guests had been told were the couples' youngest children, Regulus and Dora.

'As lively and charming as their mother, no less,' Charlie's tone was brimming with pride. 'Ginny and Ron took the little ones to Mum's for lunch – Hermione's going to meet them there with the boys, give us some peace-'

'And what's Harry going to do? What's going on here?' Estella seemed instantly suspicious, her voice sounding more alert despite the earlier fatigue. Charlie remained silent, apparently struck dumb by the impact his revelation would likely have. Estella seemed to have figured some things out for herself. 'The rumours are true, then – oh don't look at me like that Charles Weasley! I may not be so politically inclined to keep up with the Ministry, but there have been more potions ordered for St. Mungo's than there have officially been patients, and I deal with the Unspeakables often enough to know when they're up to something. I'm not an idiot.'

'But you never let on-'

'Honey, I was raised by a Slytherin. There's a lot I don't let on about – besides, I trust you. If there was something for me to know, you wouldn't tell me until you were absolutely sure-'

'I'm sure-' Charlie blurted.

'Who?' Estella's voice had dropped into a hushed whisper.

'Most everyone struck down by the Killing Curse – least those known to have been murdered by a Death Eater... those who would not have otherwise died by other means in the years since...'

'That doesn't answer my question, Charles,' Estella sounded impatient.

'Well why don't you go see for yourself? They're here, in the next room...'

'Prat!'  
Estella said a few other choice words under her breath that only Remus could hear, the faintest sound of hurried footsteps their only warning before the door was flung open.

Spotting who awaited her in the living room, Estella froze. Whatever she had been about to say dissolved in her mouth as she gaped at each of them in turn. Taking the initiative, Remus closed the distance between them and held out his arms, mindful not to startle his very much grown up goddaughter, in case she slipped into shock.  
'Merlin, it's good to see you at last, Cub-' was all he could get out before he found himself almost bowled over by the young woman's sudden reaction; his werewolf reflexes the only thing keeping him from falling over.

'Moony!' was all the stunned witch could say, the emotion in her voice tangible.

They pulled away after a few brief moments, all too mindful of the others in the room thanks to James' persistent coughing. Eying her father's best friend hungrily, Estella rolled her eyes.  
'You know, you ought to take a potion for that...' she quipped. 'Otherwise people might think your Animagus form was a cat and wait for you to hack up a hairball.'

James' eyes flew open wide at the pointed humour, and it was his turn to gape.  
'You really are Padfoot's daughter,' he observed reverently. The emotion in his voice bespoke of the grief he felt for the friend who evidently would not, like them, return.

'It's good to see you again, Prongs,' said Estella cryptically, before morphing her features to that of her past alter-ego, Aries Ollerton.

'I knew it!' said Lily, hand flying to her mouth in surprise. 'Selina and I both... after you'd disappeared, and we'd found that pendant design at the jeweller... Selina knew there was something about it...'

'You're a Metamorphagus?' spluttered James, fixated on the transformation.

'I wasn't back then,' Estella pointed out. She morphed again into the appearance that became her own after the blood adoption that had been facilitated in the year after her death had been faked, and magic, damaged. The Dark Lord had started to dabble in Blood Magic himself, calling to his circle the kin of his Marked; diluting Estella's relation to her birth family - particularly her uncle - by magically adding genetic traits of two further 'parents' not only obscured her from the Dark Lord, but introduced inheritable magical ability that repaired her core just enough to grant her a degree of practical function in the wizarding world.  
'I wasn't like this until my uncle signed the paperwork, enabling me to add Moony and Tonks as parents.'

When it became apparent that her godfather or Charlie had at least informed the Potters as such, Estella turned to Remus in dismay. 'I'm sorry Dora couldn't come back with you-'

'-She was killed by another curse, I know-'

'Yes, and if Bellatrix crawls out of her grave next I'm going to take great pleasure in putting her back in the dirt – '

Remus inhaled sharply and looked over her shoulder at Charlie, who nodded grimly in confirmation - Estella had fought to the death the final battle. He pulled his goddaughter into a firm embrace.  
'All the same, I'm sorry I'm all you've gotten back,' he said, remembering how much the loss of Sirius mere months before that final battle had almost broken Estella. He didn't then want to think of what she went through, losing most everyone else in one foul swoop.

Estella nodded into his chest, her sigh muffled by his robes. Pulling away sharply, she stared at James and Lily in realisation.  
'Harry!'

'Hermione should be sending him along soon as she has relieved him of the boys,' Charlie informed her.

Estella shook her head and pulled out a small mobile phone from the pocket of her Muggle jeans. It was playing a distinct tune.  
'He's calling me,' she elaborated, calling attention to the caller ID before stepping away from the congregated adults and taking the call.  
'Harry?' she uttered into the phone. The others could only listen to the one-sided snatches of conversation that followed. 'What's wrong?... Slow down... Yes, I know about it... Well I'd heard whispers, same as you, but it was just as much a surprise – I'll talk to him... no, don't put him on, I'll come to you...'  
At that, Estella snapped the phone shut and looked up at her godfather, bemused.  
'Your son is entirely too smart for his own good,' she informed him proudly, before turning to the Potters; 'and your son is an absolute cynic – boy is he in for the surprise of his life!'  
She crossed over to Charlie, kissing him goodbye.  
'Give me ten minutes, then follow with James and Lily,' she instructed, before making her way to the fireplace. When she could sense, rather than see, no one following, she looked over to her godfather expectantly. 'You waiting for a gilded invitation, Moony?'

Remus almost fell over his feet in his haste. Accepting a pinch of Floo Powder with a shaking hand, he promptly followed his goddaughter to their destination.

Left alone with the unfamiliar red-head once more, James could only marvel.  
'Yep, truly the kid of a Marauder, that one,' he gushed, though his tone was still somewhat saddened by the fact the girl's own father would not be able to see the young woman the girl had become; his last memories of his friend being that of a prideful father-to-be. No one could deny the rather marauder-ish machinations behind first surprising Harry with one dead man, only to then let him stew for ten minutes before presenting him with his parents.

* * *

Meanwhile at another, familiar, address in London, Harry Potter was staring in disbelief at the man who had followed Estella out of the fireplace.  
'When word of the imminent headlines reached them, the Ministry had the Healers move up the schedule,' Remus explained as the younger wizard had pulled the former professor into a firm embrace. 'We were waiting for Estella when she got in... Kingsley arranged for Charlie to pick us up just before the afternoon edition went on sale, to keep your family out of the press-'

'We?' Harry choked, eyes flickering between Estella and the fireplace, wide with surprise... hope.

Estella nodded gently, a small smile tugging at her lips. Remembering then who had yet to be informed of his father's return, she glanced at Remus and asked of Harry; 'Where's Teddy?'

Estella nodded; unsurprised by Harry's response. She looked up to Remus apologetically.  
'I can't imagine how long you've already had to wait, Moony, but please just give me a few moments more-'

Reaching out to cup her cheek with his hand, Remus smiled at his cub leaned into the touch and reassured her quietly.  
'Somehow I doubt he'll believe it to be true unless he hears it from you,' he guessed. 'I'll wait as long as I have to – I know you'll bring him to me when he's ready.'

'It's good to have you back, Moony,' Estella words were again muffled as she threw herself into her godfather's arms. Pulling away just as quickly – all too keen to reunite father and son – she smiled. 'I'll be back before you know it... we have so much to catch up on!'

'I'm not planning on going anywhere,' said Remus resolutely, watching hungrily as his first and possibly most precious cub went to inform his son of his return.

'Moony, what just did you mean by '_we_'?'

* * *

When Estella found the boy who had become as much as one of her sons as he was, by virtue of the blood adoption, her little brother, the lad was sat at a desk in the small bedroom Harry had magically added to Grimmauld Place after Estella had insisted it become a communal base for their two growing families. His back was to her.  
'Is it true?' the young boy whispered, not looking up from the newspaper Estella suspected the boy had read over and over.

Closing the door softly behind her, Estella closed the distance between them and perched on the desk across from the boy, so that they could be eye-to-eye. Casting aside the newspaper young Teddy was gripping obsessively, she took one of the boy's hands in her own, using her other to raise his chin up to look at her.  
'I'm not going to mince words,' she informed him, matter of fact. 'Your father's downstairs.'

Theodore Lupin swallowed thickly and averted his gaze.  
'Anyone else?' he whispered hoarsely.

'Your Uncle Harry's parents, James and Lily, will be arriving momentarily,' Estella confirmed. 'Beyond that, I don't know who other families might have gotten back – as the Prophet has rather accurately reported, for a change, it seems to be restricted to people killed by Death Eaters, using an Unforgivable-'

Teddy nodded distractedly. Though the woman who'd raised him had not wanted to go into specifics, he'd known fundamentally what had killed his parents and other people his surrogate mother had cared about.  
'What about Uncle Sirius?' he asked in a small voice, looking to Estella sadly.

Estella sighed, but held her composure.  
'I've long suspected my Uncle had put it kindly when he'd said it was that Unforgivable that had killed my father,' she said quietly. Sirius Black had come out of hiding roughly seven months before the final battle, intent on securing an audience with his estranged brother-in-law to discuss the ongoing protection of their mutual interest. Estella had been without any means of magical self-defence, her magical core still damaged from the stunt almost two years prior when her uncle faked her death, and with the war intensifying around them, her father had grown less and less sure of his ability to protect her single-handedly. He'd gone to Hogwarts to corner Severus, have him abandon the ambiguous position he held in the war in order to help ensure Estella's future, and had never returned. Her uncle had sought her out soon after to impart the news, but if he had been inclined to give specifics, Estella had not been of right mind to take it in.

'Oh,' said Teddy Lupin, looking down at the floor. He looked troubled.

Sensing the pensive mood, Estella needlessly flattened the silky strands of hair atop her young charge's head. Frowning slightly as its colour changed from its favoured black – the same she'd been born with and preferred herself in honour of her birth parents – to the sandy coloured they both naturally shared, she expressed her concern.  
'A Galleon for your thoughts, Teddy-bear?' she intoned with affection.

Teddy Lupin looked up at the only mother figure he'd known, eyes wide with fear and a little confusion.  
'I don't know what to think, Mum,' said Teddy desperately, and inwardly Estella cringed at the boy's use of title, and the explanations that it would now evoke. He looked at her knowingly. 'I've always wished I could see my parents... but this changes everything, doesn't it?'  
Estella nodded slightly, and Teddy averted his gaze once again, looking conflicted.  
'Are you happy he's back?' he whispered. Another nod. Teddy sighed shakily, his eyes flicking back to Estella, full of pain. 'So you don't want me anymore, then?'

Estella blinked slowly in her shock, mouth slightly agape.  
'Is that what you're worried about?' she exclaimed finally. Leaping from the desk, she tugged Teddy up out of his chair and into her arms. Once there, the tension that threatened to overwhelm the poor lad dissolved immediately, and he clung to his guardian firmly. Rubbing soothing circles around his back, Estella rested her head in his hair – noting absently that it would not be long until the boy towered over her – and murmured words of reassurance.  
'Oh, kid! No one is going to take you away... not from me, or Charlie, or the kids – we're family, and nothing will change that-'

'But he's my _dad_...' Teddy cut in, confused.

Estella pulled away and cupped the sides of the young boy's face, tilting his head up to look at her.  
'Teddy-bear, your father is as much a part of this family as anyone,' she pointed out, reminding the boy of the many stories she'd shared from her childhood. 'As such, he shall be welcome to stay with us as long as he wants. He and I have not discussed anything, of course, but I can assure you, Theodore, that should he ever care to leave no one's going to make you go anywhere you don't want to go.'

'Really?' said Teddy, eyes shining with relief.

Estella nodded, stepping away and taking the hand of her ward, intent on leading him out of the room.  
'I promise,' she vowed. Quirking her lips, she gestured towards the door. 'Now what's say we stop taunting your father and let him meet you, hmmm? He's probably paced a hole in my grandmother's ratty old rug by now-''

'Will you stay with me?' Teddy asked meekly. 'I mean, what if he doesn't like me?'

Estella let go of the boy's hand, but only to wrap her arm around his shoulders instead. Ruffling his hair affectionately, she leaned over and kissed his temple in encouragement.  
'Teddy, your father has loved you since before you were born. Nothing would ever change that,' she assured him. I will stay as long as you want me to... though between you and me I suspect your dad is having quite the same thoughts as you. I wasn't lying when I said the two of you were alike... and now you will get to see for yourself. You'll both be fine.'

Teddy smiled slightly at the thought, but before they could reach the door he looked up at his guardian thoughtfully.  
'Estella,' he said hesitantly, the name sounding so unfamiliar coming from his lips. It reminded Estella just how much she'd come to view the boy before her as one of her sons. Having secured the woman's attention, Teddy continued. 'Do you think my dad will mind if I keep calling you Mum?'

Estella hesitated, inwardly mindful of how she had been wondering that same thought. Truthfully, she answered.  
'He'll understand, Teddy, but it might pain him to hear you use it because he loved your mother very much and wouldn't want to think we've forgotten about her.'

'Like with Nan?' whispered Teddy, face alight with understanding. The first time Teddy had called the woman raising him 'Mum' in front of his grandmother, the older witch had burst into tears.

Estella nodded, recalling the same memory.  
'Yes, and like with Nan, I think I owe it to your father to explain first,' Estella warned him, grateful her charge had broached the matter first. She squeezed his shoulder in encouragement. 'Come along, your dad is waiting-'

At her words, Teddy's face lit up in a bright smile, his earlier apprehension now giving way to a little excitement. They exited the room and walked down the hall, arm-in-arm. No sooner had they reached the landing could they see him. Remus Lupin stood anxiously at the foot of the stairs, looking equal parts impatient and nervous. Smirking at her godfather, Estella attempted to break the ice.  
'I ought to have mentioned, Harry had Bill ward against all of George's products... particularly the Extendable Ear,' Estella informed him, thinking specifically of the old Extendable Ear that was perched on a small stand atop the mantle; a gift from George after she and Harry had helped him with the store in the wake of Fred's death. She wouldn't put it past the man before her to attempt it.

Sheepishly, Remus Lupin tore his eyes away from where he had been staring at his son, to look at his goddaughter shamefacedly.  
'I figure a little turnabout would be fair play after what you'd gotten Kreacher to do during Order meetings,' he admitted airily, eying his son for signs of a reaction; 'but the Ear seemed to have been stuck to the mantle-'

Sharing a secretive look with his guardian, Teddy Lupin could not help but twitch his lips.  
'That's because you didn't solemnly swear to be up to no good with it,' the boy informed his newly returned father.

All were struck by the irony of the words, Remus quirking a brow at his goddaughter in question.  
'Well it just would not do for the progeny of Marauders to be hypocrites, now would it?' Estella supplied. 'Besides, it keeps us all on our toes, recalling to cast Impenetrable Charms when we absolutely cannot be overheard.'  
She nudged he boy beside her and they descended the last remaining stairs, coming to a halt a few feet away from her target.  
'Remus, I would like to introduce you to your son, Teddy,' she said softly. She squeezed the shoulder of her young charge in encouragement before then dropping her arm entirely. 'Teddy, this is your dad-'

Teddy's eyes were wide as the gravity of his guardian's words sunk in, locking eyes with the man staring at him with longing. Without warning, he launched himself at the taller wizard, his arms wrapping tightly around the man's middle; like he had been hugging his dad his entire life. Tears welling in his own eyes, Remus stared down at the top of his son's head in disbelief before locking eyes with his goddaughter and returning the hug with just as much enthusiasm.

'Welcome home, Moony,' said Estella, her voice thick with emotion as she reached out and took the offered hand of her godfather, the man's other arm still wrapped securely around his son.

'Thank you,' he whispered, before bowing his head and kissing the top of his son's head.

Estella smiled and squeezed his hand.  
'You as much as raised me, Moony. I wouldn't have known much about my own parents if not for you,' she winked. 'And like you said, I figured turnabout was only fair play.'  
Spotting that her godfather was alone in the hallway and deducing that said presence had more to do with the faint murmurs of voices in the next room than anything else, she smiled.  
'Charlie sent James and Lily through, then?'

Remus nodded as his son pulled away at last; the pair now standing side by side, the older man's arm slung casually over his son's shoulders.  
'I thought I'd give them a moment,' he said distractedly, his eyes still busy surveying his son hungrily. Addressing the boy, his voice was thick with feeling. 'Look at you, Teddy, practically a man already!'

Teddy twisted his head up to look up at his father, a thoughtful expression colouring his features.  
'You didn't miss too much, Dad,' he assured the man, whose own breath caught at the use of title and the ease in which it had come. 'I haven't even got my Hogwarts letter yet, and besides, my photo album is now officially thicker than '_Hogwarts: A History_'... and everyone's always told me stories and shown me memories, even, of both you and mum-'

'Sounds like you've been kept in very good hands,' Remus intoned gratefully, sending Estella another grateful look.

Teddy stepped away from his father in favour of wrapping his arms around his guardian's waist.  
'The best!' he boasted, looking up adoringly at the young woman.

'Crawler,' Estella teased, ruffling the boy's hair before returning the embrace and planting a kiss on his brow. Looking over at her godfather, she chuckled dryly. 'He's only saying that because I know all the embarrassing stories!'

At her words, Teddy growled torturously and buried his face in his guardian's shoulder, lest his father see his blush. It didn't work, however, for his hair morphed as bright red as his ears, soliciting a groan of realisation from him when he heard Estella's snigger. But before anyone could make light of Teddy's embarrassment, a door opened and Harry's head appeared around the doorframe.  
'Charlie Flooed,' he said urgently, looking at Estella significantly. 'The Horntails broke out of the enclosure-'

Estella deployed some words that would make a sailor blush, routinely covering the ears of her young charge, with his help. Remus' eyes were wide at the choice of language and he looked betwene his two former students, now almost as old as he, in question. Meanwhile, Estella spoke.  
'Harry, if he hasn't already done so, can you Floo the Burrow and have Ron send the kids to Base Camp? I don't care what their grandmother says, but I promised Sirius I'd let him sit and watch with Teddy next time. The others can stay in the Visitor Tent Creche-'

'-I'll fetch them,' offered Harry. 'Just let me tell my pa-'

Estella cut him off.  
'Oh no, I couldn't ask that!' she exclaimed, looking scandalised. 'I'm sure you want to get James and Lily home to meet Ginny-'

'Oh ho, and you think I'll hear the end of it from Jamie if you're letting his cousin watch while I'm staging a reunion at home?' said Harry, incredulous, their respective sons accustomed to doing most everything together, like their grandfathers before them. He shook his head. 'Besides, I've a feeling his namesake would be just as keen to see you and Charlie at work. I can have Ginny watch over the little ones at the Burrow-'

Estella cast her eyes over at her godfather assessingly. She stroked her chin thoughtfully.  
'Yes, well I suppose it might make sense to introduce them to the others slowly, rather than throw everyone at them at once,' she mused. Nodding affirmatively, she made her decision. 'Let's do it.'

'Do what?' Remus asked with a slight frown.

'Go to Romania, of course,' Teddy informed him enthusiastically. Misinterpreting his father's blank look, he elaborated. 'That's where the Dragon Enclosure is-'

Remus nodded distractedly, his eyes locked on Estella.  
'Oh, I gathered as such,' he told his son gently, before questioning his goddaughter directly. 'But what I do not understand is what you have to do with the dragons – they told me you worked in research!'

Teddy was just about to answer on behalf of his guardian when the woman beat him to it.  
'Yes, I work in research... most of the time,' Estella supplied cryptically. She gave both Harry and Teddy pointed looks. 'If you want any more detail than that it'll have to wait until after – I have people relying on me out there and cannot risk the complication of you taking it a face value and trying to stop me from doing my job...'

Remus looked affronted.  
'I'm sure whatever it is can't be too bad if those around you condone it,' he said reasonably.

'Oh, it's not,' Teddy assured his father. 'It just _looks_ a little... bad...'

'I think I've got a _little_ bad feeling about this,' Remus groaned. 'But given she's not gotten herself killed yet, I'll come along quietly.'

'We might need to hold you to that, Moony,' joked Harry, making a fast getaway; leaving to have their respective sons meet them in Romania.

End Chapter.

A/N: Well ain't those fighting last words from Moony? Now I hate to beg, but reviews would really cheer me up. Call me a dooms-dayer, call me a procrastinator, but the situation with the house I just bought (well, signed myself over to paying for for eternity with the bank) and all the repairs that are presently snowballing before I've even had a chance to unpack, are really getting me down. And that's saying nothing about my non-existent bank balance and complete and utter inability to return to the place where my heart truly lies (England), even for a holiday, anytime soon. *pouts* It's a darn shame no one's thought to give JK a nudge and have her set up a scholarship fund for struggling fanfic writers, who would dearly love the tuition to hone their creative minds into a tool that can be a little more financially productive.


	3. When Pigs Fly

**Disclaimer: **If it's mine, I really have to have words with my agent cause those royalty cheques don't seem to be making it into my account (!) LOL

**Updated: **Sunday 2 August 2009 (August! OMG)

**Author's Note: **All right, so I have done the *insane*... enrolled in night classes. So now I work 30 hours a week, have 4 contact hours on campus, and then hours (upon hours) of oh-so-fun study to do (post graduate workload I tell you). Add to that the requisite responsibilities of home ownership and... gah... muse can't come out to play nearly as much as I would like (my traitorous body does have this fascination with a thing called 'sleep'. Who knew it was so vital?) So, apologies in advance if updates aren't quite as frequent as precedented. But I *do* make time to write... honest!

**Chapter Two: When Pigs Fly...**

'But she always _hated_ flying-'

'When she failed to regain any marked ability with a wand, this was one of the only ways she felt she could make a difference-'

'-What about her research? The freelancing they told me she does for the St. Mungo's Apothecary? Whatever possessed her to free fall from another's broomstick and wrestle with dragons in mid-air?'  
Remus Lupin was beside himself, all colour having left his face once they'd arrived at their destination and he'd realised what his cub was about to do. He had, true to form, needed to be physically restrained from stopping her.

'Grief, mostly,' Harry informed the distraught wizard solemnly, shaking his head in bemusement at the predicted reaction. 'Once having faced the fear of losing everyone dearest to her, taking to the skies became a fear she could control... conquer.'  
He shrugged.  
'It helped her to cope. There's not a day that goes by that I don't thank Charlie for giving her that outlet.'

'She's really good at it too,' Teddy Lupin assured his father, nodding in emphasis. 'Dragons don't really like Magic around them, especially when they're in a mood like this. Squibs have done this job for ages and Mum's outlasted them all. She's the best, because she can still do some magic, and Charlie-'

Momentarily distracted from the peril his goddaughter was about to voluntarily confront, Remus Lupin looked to his son in surprise.  
'What did you call Estella?' he whispered, a small frown forming.

Eyes wide, Teddy Lupin clasped both hands over his mouth and shook his head frantically.  
'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' he rushed out, eyes wide with horror as he turned and fled in the direction of the visitor's tent, where James and Lily Potter were nervously hovering, awaiting further direction.

'Teddy-' Remus called after his son in alarm.

'Let him go,' said Harry resignedly, a gentle but firm hand on the older wizard's arm preventing the man from pursuing the child. Once he had secured the attention of his childhood mentor, Harry endeavoured to account for the behaviour of his godson. 'Estella knew, first hand as I did, what it was like to grow up without parents. Feeling as though you truly did not belong... to anyone...'  
Remus opened his mouth to cut the younger wizard off, but Harry held up his hand.  
'After you all died, all Estella and Teddy really had was each other,' Harry continued. 'But Estella wasn't his aunt, or his godmother... and just what do you call an adopted godsister who has become a primary caregiver?'  
Harry let Remus ponder this for a moment before elaborating.  
'She's never tried to replace Tonks – Teddy knows who his mother is – and for the first few years he did only know her by her given name... but once the other children came along, he felt too different... left out...'

Remus nodded distractedly.  
'And what of Charlie? What does my son call him?' he choked out, realising that whatever the situation, it would just have to be something he dealt with, without dragging the motives and emotions of those he loved into it.

Harry smiled wryly.  
'Just Charlie,' he was quick to inform the man. At Remus' surprised look, he shook his head. 'Teddy and Charlie get along famously, but the dynamic is just not the same. He wasn't really on the scene full time until Teddy was in nursery school. It's more like what me and Padfoot were... Estella's the only one he's wanted to 'belong' to in that way. Estella always figured it was some sort of latent pack mentality.'

Remus snorted, comprehension written all over his face.  
'What about Dora's mother?' he asked, unleashing a question that seemed to have been niggling at the peripherals of his mind since his return. 'She's Teddy's grandmother... Estella's too, in a fashion. I would have thought-'

'Andromeda opened her door to Estella after the final battle, when it became public knowledge that Estella had never died,' Harry informed him. 'But no matter what any of us did to divert attention, the media was brutal in their scrutiny... and her so-called _friends_... there was only Elsie left alive after the final battle, but Merlin, by the time _she_ was ready to listen, to understand; the damage had already been done. John died the same night you did, still brokenhearted over Estella's supposed death. Reginald was chronically injured the night Dumbledore was killed; his parents pulled him out of Hogwarts and he fell into the bottle. Got hit by a train in Muggle London after a night of drinking. Elsie's knee-jerk reaction to Estella suddenly being back alive was to accuse her of having had an indirect hand in the deaths of their friends...'  
Remus looked demonstrably mortified, anger glinting in his eyes directed towards the flighty Ravenclaw girl Estella had tried so hard to be a good friend to. Harry nodded in agreement and continued.  
'The day Estella came of age, she took Teddy and ran. None of us knew where she was for over a year. Turns out she'd tracked down Lenny and secured herself a job touring with some Muggle bands he worked with... he was sworn to secrecy.'  
His eyes drifted towards the visitor's tent. Lenny was a Muggleborn Gryffindor from Remus' time at Hogwarts, who had left the Wizarding world during the first war, only to be tracked down years later in pursuit of Muggle concert tickets and some Charmed musical instruments. Harry looked as surprised as Remus did, that Estella had managed to re-establish contact after what had only been a fleeting encounter earlier in their teen years. The bespectacled wizard ran a hand through his hair.  
'After they returned, and the resultant furore had calmed down, they spent some time at the vineyard. Estella wanted Teddy to know what you had left him, and she almost worked herself into the ground, getting the winery up and running-'

'Winery?' Remus spluttered, eyes wide. There had been nothing to show of any winery at his ancestral family's vineyard since an aerial raid had destroyed the outbuildings during the last Muggle war.

'Last I counted, there were six different drops – there's bound to be a case in the tent, bloody expensive though it is,' Harry grinned. 'She took the proceeds of Tonks' death benefits from the Auror's department and reclaimed all the surrounding land your ancestors had sold off over the years. Practically neighbours to Bill and Fleur now...'

Remus' eyes went wide as he calculated the distance. Harry nodded in confirmation.  
'She bought back everything that had first appeared on the original land title,' he told him. 'It's still a boutique operation by Muggle standards, of course, but did you have any idea how much of a rare commodity wizard-produced wine is in our world? Goblin and Elf variations are all the rage, but actual _wizard_ wine? Quite an impressive monopoly your son's got there, Moony...'

'My son...' Remus' expression was blank.

'Oh, did I forget to mention? Estella's put everything in Teddy's name-'

'But she's done all the work! Plus, Dora and I adopted her, she should at least get half-'

Harry's eyes twinkled with admiration for his absent friend... his bona fide sister.  
'She didn't want it, Moony,' he informed the stunned wizard with a nonchalant shrug. 'That is, I mean to say, she didn't _need _it. The Blacks were old money, as you know... and Severus left her quite the nest egg. She did it all for Teddy... for you. Merlin, there's _nothing_ she wouldn't do for that boy of yours-'

Remus shook his head in bewilderment.  
'And her own children?' he asked quietly.

'Her world absolutely revolves around the twins and little Sirius, that much is true,' admitted Harry. 'But what she has with Teddy... it's something else. It's the same, only... _different_, somehow. Not more. Not less. Just...'

'Different?' Remus supplied, a brow raised. When Harry could offer no further articulation on the subject, he changed the course of the conversation. 'How did Estella and Charlie meet? I didn't think they really even knew each other before I, well, died...'

'Remember how Shell Cottage was a safe haven to us all in the War? How Sirius and Estella found refuge there after the vineyard's existence was compromised?' said Harry, referring to a time when the wider Wizarding world had thought Estella dead, and all but Sirius had been out in the field, out in the front lines.  
At Remus' nod, he went on.  
'When Estella reclaimed your ancestral land, and she found herself a neighbour to the cottage, she and Teddy spent a lot of time there,' Harry explained. 'I'm not sure how much Charlie's told you, but Bill and Fleur's eldest was born in the year after the final battle... Teddy's practically grown up with Victoire. Anyway, after the war, when Charlie returned to his postings in Romania, he'd always pass through Shell Cottage on his way back to England. At first, people just thought she was on the rebound from Fred...'

'I doubt that was the case,' Remus noted, remembering how the belated Weasley twin and Estella had grown close in the few months between Sirius' disappearance and the Final Battle, which saw both Fred and himself fall. If anything, it was Fred whom Estella had turned to in her own moment of grief.

Harry nodded in agreement.  
'There's no telling what would have happened, had Fred lived... take away the grief and the danger and I don't think the emotions would have ran deep enough,' he surmised, then shuddered. 'Merlin forbid should things have ended awkwardly between them, she may have grown so adverse to all things Weasley and wound up with Draco after all...'

'Draco – Draco _Malfoy_?' Remus spluttered.

Harry's cheeks flushed with disapproval, and he was otherwise distracted by a flutter of movement at the visitor's tent: Ginny had arrived unexpectedly and was talking to Teddy and his parents, who were now looking to him in anticipation. She must have brought the children with her. Almost relieved by the imminent deterrent, Harry smiled at Remus and gestured towards the tent.  
'Suffice to say there are elements of Estella's past that I remain no authority on. As it stands, she's likely going to want my head on a pike for mentioning Malfoy at all,' he cringed. 'All that truly matters at this moment is that she's found a happiness with Charlie no one thought would be possible after losing all of you and... we're about to have company.'

Remus' look of confusion was promptly wiped from his expression as he followed Harry's eyeline to see a trio of preschoolers hurtling towards them.  
'Up! Up!'  
Two of the toddlers cried out with glee, arms outstretched. A third, who might have passed for Harry's double, if not for his eyes, bellowed excitedly.  
'Daddy!'

'Just what are you all doing here?' Harry asked in mock chastisement.

'Mummy said so,' the boy who could only be Harry's son informed them, as though that explained it all. Harry ruffled the boy's hair and looked over towards his parents, where his pregnant wife was taking the initiative to introduce herself to her inlaws.

'Gryffindor curiosity,' Harry muttered under his breath, exchanging a humoured look with Remus before instructing the children to stay in the Visitor's Tent unless _fully_ accompanied by an adult in future. Quickly assured of their compliance, he embraced each one in turn before rising to his full height, a child in each arm; the third clinging to his back. Clearing his voice, the emotion now evident in his tone, Harry began the introductions.  
'The human monkey here on my back is Ron and Hermione's eldest, Rose,' he began, before indicating the mini Potter in his arms. 'This is my youngest son. Remus, meet Albus Severus.'

'And the girl?' Remus asked after smiling politely at each of the boys, his eyes having never strayed too far from the little red-haired girl who was clinging to Harry's neck.

'Oh, this little imp?' Harry asked nonchalantly, bouncing the girl on his hip and soliciting a giggle from the contented toddler. 'This is Estella's Dora... Dora Eileen Black. Kids, this is...'

'Moony!' Dora announced, face breaking out into a smile that had instantly melted Remus' heart.

Harry smiled at the rapt expression on Remus' face, the man's surprise at being so immediately recognised evident in his eyes.  
'Obviously, they as much as know you already,' Harry intoned lightly, before turning to the most trustworthy of the children in his vicinity; all but Dora now milling around his feet shyly as he maintained a hold on the smallest, most flighty, one. 'Dora, where are your brothers?'

Resting an elbow on Harry's shoulder, Dora inclined her head so that it was propped up by her hand and babbled conversationally to the wizard she called uncle.  
'Reg'lus wiv Teddy n' Siri wiv Jamie. Uncle George say they runnin' for his Galleons 'gain-'

'Dear Merlin, I hope they haven't been testing your Aunt Gin while I've been out. I don't know how many times I've told Jamie to be good for his mother-'

Dora shook her head quickly, unruly red curls coming loose from their bunches and fanning around her face.  
'Nuh-uh! Teddy says you don't get tested til you get to 'Ogwarts!' Dora reminded him, as though such things were obvious. She clearly adored Teddy.

The adults laughed, Harry rolling his eyes at the familiar antics and Remus seemingly looking as though he was just itching to hold the girl in Harry's arms, to make sure she were real. The sound of muffled giggling and the stumbling of footsteps signalled the arrival of the mini Marauders-in-the-making. Shifting Dora on his hip, Harry pulled out his wand, wordlessing summoning his Invisibility Cloak to reveal two identical, mischevious looking four-year-olds, unsuccessful in their attempt to approach in stealth.  
'James Gideon Potter! What have I told you about making off with my Invisibility Cloak?' Harry sought out and scolded his eldest son.

James looked appropriately abashed, bowing his head.  
'Only when we're at Hogwarts 'n the Portraits n' Ghosts can watch out for us-' he mumbled, scuffing his boots against the stones underfoot. His ears were as red as the hair on his head.

'Does this look like Hogwarts to you?'

'No,' the other boy answered this time, morphing his features back from looking identical to his cousin, revealing in its stead a shock of black hair and a pair of grey eyes Remus knew only too well. The cheeky lad then ran a hand through his hair and looked his bespectacled uncle straight in the eye. 'But to be fair, Uncle Harry, no one told us we were comin' here. So we brought the Cloak, just in case, like-'

'-And used it even after you realised this wasn't Hogwarts, hmm?' Harry pointed out. 'Now what do you have to say about that, Sirius John Black?'

Sirius held his head high.  
'My Dad says Base Camp is as safe as Hogwarts, maybe even safer coz of the Goblin Wards,' said Sirius proudly. 'We're not stupid babies no more, Uncle Harry. We were only gonna s'prise you... and Aunt Gin's right there! We weren't really all off on our own or nothin'...'

Catching sight of the people approaching from behind his nephew and first born son, Harry made a show of sighing in defeat.  
'All right, all right, I'll give you boys a pass _this_ time... but only because I've a feeling your predecessors are finding this funny as hell-'

'Uncle _Harry_! You said _Hell_!' Dora admonished her uncle, looking scandalised.

'Quiet, you little grass!' Harry poked his niece in the side playfully, delighting in her giggles, before looking to Remus and gesturing towards the approaching group; his wife Ginny and parents walking towards them, Remus' son amongst them with a small sandy-haired boy on his shoulders. 'Here, make yourself useful for a moment and take Dora here, will you? Seems I have some long overdue introductions to make.'

The little girl promptly held out her arms, much to Remus' delight, permitting him to take the girl into his arms in much the same way he had held the child's mother not so many years ago in his memory.  
'You're Teddy's Daddy,' said Dora, matter of fact. She wrapped little hands around Remus' neck and leaned in to whisper into his ear secretively. 'I'm named for Teddy's Mummy, you know. But I look like my Daddy.'  
She leaned back and continued to babble.  
'Mummy says Reg'lus coulda like Teddy's twin but he's _my_ twin. Silly Mummy-'

'-and that there is Estella and Charlie's youngest, Regulus' twin Dora.'  
Meanwhile, Harry had finished introducing his parents to the children who had scampered away from his wife before she'd had the chance to introduce them. He looked to the babbling girl in amusement. 'As you can see, nothing gets by our Dora – she even talks in her sleep.'

'A bit like her mother before her, if I recall correctly,' Remus informed them fondly.

Introductions dispensed with, the unlikely set of witches and wizards – minus Ginny and the smallest children – soon found themselves in a magically enhanced Spectator's Tent. Tiers upon tiers of Romanian magical folk formed an ampitheatre around a set of Omniculars of cinematic proportion. As family of some of the team dispatched to deal with the runaway dragon, they were situated in a private box; all in their party seated separately from other onlookers and waited upon by attentive House Elves intent upon making sure the VIP spectators were bestowed with a steady supply of food and beverages.

Not that all felt like they could stomach food.

On the projection before them, they could see Charlie leading a fleet of Dragon Handlers flying in formation; Estella his tandem passenger. Coming up above the tear away dragon, the newcomers could only watch in abstract horror as Estella launched herself from the broom, falling directly towards the unruly beast. Apparently, having Estella's task explained to them in words was not quite enough to prepare them for the reality.

'A Muggle homing beacon will ensure she lands correctly,' Harry explained, his eyes not leaving the Omnicular Screen as he sightlessly accepted finger food from a hovering tray before him, his other hand already sporting a glass of the magical wine he'd told Remus about earlier. 'A magnetic latch atop the collar will be activated and Estella will not come off unless she uses her Emergency Portkey or chooses to detach. Her flight suit is reinforced Dragon Hide and potions will have made her impervious to flame and heat for the duration of the mission.'

'Other than that, she has no Magical defenses?' the elder James Potter asked, his serious side showing through.

'Estella may have lost the ability to perform wanded magic in the regular sense, but if truly under threat she can hold her own,' Harry assured his father.

'My Mum can beat Uncle Harry in a duel, if it's the right time of month,' Sirius declared proudly. At the wild look his uncle then gave him, he held firm. 'What, it's what Dad says...'

'Yes, and if you want your father to live to see another Christmas, you won't repeat what he said to your mother,' said Harry with a laugh. Returning to his adult audience, he confirmed his nephew's words. 'It's true though... she can beat me in a duel when she's riled up enough. What remains of her magic is closely tied to her emotions... as we so found out in the Final Battle.'

Teddy Lupin nodded fervently, his amber eyes glinting with a feral protectiveness Remus was surprised to see in his son.  
'Yeah, Dad... you don't want to know what happened to the guy who finished you off.'

'Quiet, Teddy. You don't even know,' Harry admonished his godson.

'No, but she showed me the memory of how she kicked ass in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, when Voldemort was in there intent on killing you. And what she did there, she did before she knew her uncle had just been killed. So I've a fairly good idea what she's capable of when she's 'riled up' as you put it...'

'Estella showed you that?' Harry blanched, his face losing some colour.

Teddy shrugged in the affirmative and then turned his attention towards his father, who still looked a little uneasy about the vision being broadcast over the Omnicular Screen.  
'If it were truly that dangerous, do you really suppose the Romanian Ministry would let half its population come out and watch?' he pointed out, rolling his eyes at his father's concern, though particularly mindful to smile reassuringly.

Ignoring – for the moment, at least – the recent revelations pertaining to his goddaughter's involvement in the Final Battle, Remus narrowed his eyes in suspicion.  
'About that...' he said, motioning around him. 'Just how did this all get set up so quickly if it weren't a planned release?'

'Oh, the tents are always here,' Teddy answered before his godfather. Harry nodded in agreement. 'An announcement is made on the Romanian WWN and those that've subscribed to Membership of the DPT can Portkey in.'

'DPT?'

'Dragon Preservation Trust,' Harry's father cut in, ribbing his friend in the side. 'Merlin, Moony – even I knew that much!'

'We wouldn't bring the children if there were any danger,' Harry assured them all. 'Granted the little ones are still a little too impressionable to witness the Omni-cast, and it is only Jamie and Sirius' first time-'

'I can't believe you two created a new generation of James Potter and Sirius Black,' James marvelled, watching the miniature pair in amusement as they jostled for position at the railing surrounding the outer perimeter of their private box. 'Is Minnie still at Hogwarts?'

'Minnie? You mean McGonagall? She's Headmistress now... though she has vowed repeatedly to retire before another James Potter and Sirius Black get sorted.'

'Why are Estella and Charlie's children Blacks and not Weasleys?' Lily asked suddenly, the question apparently having perplexed her for quite some time.

'Estella and Charlie aren't married,' Teddy informed them, and Remus was inwardly comforted to note that calling Estella by her given name seemed to come just as easily to his son, confirming that indeed, he only really called her 'mum' to fit in, not because his mother had lost her place in his heart in her absence.

'But they _are_ Charlie's kin, are they not?' Remus frowned, horrified at the thought that his goddaughter might have added 'widow' to the long list of tragedies in her life.

'My father is Charlie Weasley,' young Sirius rounded on the older wizards, his attention surprising them. 'But there are plenty of Weasleys already and no other Blacks-'

Remus narrowed his eyes, but it was James who voiced the common thought.  
'Padfoot despised being a Black...' he said, confused.

'Yes, but in the course of his life, Sirius gave the name back its honour,' Harry explained. He looked at Remus meaningfully. 'And after Severus signed the adoption papers and her natural appearance changed as it did, the name Black became one of the only ways Estella still felt like Sirius' daughter-'

Remus looked crestfallen. Sirius had disappeared in the act of swallowing his pride and trying to convince Severus that their mutual interest – Estella – was miserable and entirely too unsafe with her uncle absent from her life. He had left Estella with Bill and Fleur in the early hours before dawn on her birthday of all days, Apparating to the Hogwarts boundary in the hopes of securing a clandestine audience with the instated Headmaster; determine his agenda once and for all. Subsequently caught and tortured by the Carrows before Severus could favourably intervene, the guilt-ridden wizard had sought them out, grim news and adoption papers in hand. Severus had insisted that with her father now gone, the event of anything happening to him would now lead the Dark Lord to her – for the evil wizard had ways of locating the heirs of those who he'd Marked and seen die in his service; it was how the dark side rebuilt its forces across the generations. A blood adoption, Severus had determined, would – in the event of anything now happening to him – best befuddle the dark magic imbued in his Dark Mark. Remus, fearful for his goddaughter's future, had agreed to the process once it had been made clear that not only would she retain the bloodline her parents had first given her, but the addition of more Magical blood to her genetic make up could well begin the process of restoring the magic she'd lost when Severus brewed the potion that split her being into two; the magical half succumbing to the death he'd fashioned for the fake doppelganger in an attempt to remove her from Voldemort's sights. For Severus, it had been an act of redemption and Remus, newly devastated by the loss of Sirius and clawing fruitlessly for a means to take away his goddaughter's subsequent pain, had rather selfishly welcomed the chance to truly see Estella as his own.

No one had considered the long term effect.

'No one had expected her appearance to change as it did,' Remus lamented shamefully. 'With Nymphadora's contribution she's still as much Black as anything... we never intended to take away the likeness she shared with her parents.'

'Oh, Estella loves the fact her children bear resemblance to both the men she considered a father,' said Harry. 'I didn't mean to imply Estella was in anyway against what you and Severus did. I know she didn't really like it at the time, but after you died she was grateful... she had a true brother in your son, and her father's name.'

'I would have had to live with my Nan, if you and Severus hadn't done the adoption,' Teddy pointed out sadly. 'I love Nan, but it wouldn't have been as right. Nan just gets sad when I'd ask her to tell me stories about Mum. Estella knew better about what it's like to grow up without parents and talked about our family all the time. Uncle Harry always said she was doing a brilliant job, because he didn't get to know anything true about his parents until he started at Hogwarts, and even then it wasn't much. If ever Severus Snape came back from death, the first thing I would do is thank him.'

Ignoring the forlorn looks his parents were giving him – evidently they had yet to be informed about the circumstances of his early childhood – Harry focussed his attention on his godson.  
'We almost had a battle on our hands, with Andromeda,' he informed Remus. 'Neville's grandmother, of all people, turned out to be Estella's biggest advocate. Really help resign Andromeda to the fact she was not intended to raise her grandson.'  
He looked skywards, his eyes having caught some movement on the giant Omnicular Screen before them, and pointed. 'Speaking of Estella, she's about got that errant Horntail back in it's enclosure.'

END CHAPTER

A/N: Yes, a *lot* of exposition there. Ugh! I think I would have been happier with it if I had described the location a little better, but... I could just see it so clearly in my head, I overlooked actually putting it on the page. But if you want a quick image, it's like a cross between the camp ground at the Quidditch World Cup and the Spectator's Stand during the Dragon's Task at the Triwizard Tournament.

I've hand-written up through chapter seven now, I think, so with any luck I will be in a position to update again next week. It will just all depend on what my Lecturers set as the prescribed readings... I can't afford to fall behind in the coursework at this level... which if I was studying it for 18 months instead of the 12 I've enrolled in, would be a Masters level. (why do I put myself through it? Oh yeah, the post grad job ops that have a base salary that's waaay more than the peanuts I earn now!) Wish me luck! (both in my class and getting the time to type up some of the chicken scratching I've been doing every day during my train commute)


	4. Bikes and Bagels

**Disclaimer: **Hmmmm nope, nothing but credit card statements in the mail; no royalty cheques to speak of. Mustn't be mine...

**A/N: **I can't believe it's been a month since the last update. I'd say 'time flies when you're having fun' but then drowning in politics readings and preparing reports in amongst inflexible work hours can hardly be considered fun LOL. Thank you all for your patience...

**Updated: **Tuesday 1st September 2009... because it's the FIRST of September and damned if I could get on the platform to take me to Hogwarts (wherein Merlin, I find I am even envious of Filch...)

**Chapter Four:** **Bikes and Bagels  
**

James Potter had never been one for sleeping in. In his youth, he had woken naturally at the crack of dawn, intent on spending the extra time before classes plotting extra-curricular activities like pranks, or devising ways to win over the love of his life. After Harry was born, he would watch his son sleep until he could bear it no more and he would rouse his son, the two of them often together preparing breakfast or playing in the living room by the time Lily awoke to join them. Despite the late hour the night previously – festivities at the Burrow running well into the small hours thanks to many childhood bedrooms being put to use for the growing number of grandchildren to nap in – James was up with the sun. Neither wishing to disturb his wife with his restlessness – the fiery redhead not one to be trifled with when sleep deprived – and curious about the work Estella and her family had done to the Black ancestral home Sirius had once despised, but that his daughter's family and that of his own son now found themselves co-habitating during times of family togetherness, he dressed hurriedly and sneaked downstairs.

On the main floor, in the drawing room, James was surprised to already find his namesake and cousins already awake and quietly amusing themselves. The magically powered flat screen television playing cartoons seemed terribly out of place in Orion Black's once prized reception room and was indeed summarily ignored as Estella's eldest son kept the other children captivated with his Metamorphagus abilities; little James whispering suggestions eagerly whilst Albus and Dora giggled their approval at Sirius' interpretations of people's expressions from the night before. Stepping further into the room, still unseen by the children, James almost missed the sight of Dora's twin brother Regulus quietly flicking through the pages of a picture book, the little boy almost completely engulfed by the large squashy cushions of the armchair he had climbed into. He was not surprised to find young Teddy absent; after having seen father and son disappear together he more or less suspected they'd spent the rest of the night talking, much as James had wished he could have done with Harry, had his boy not otherwise been required to see to the needs of his pregnant wife.

The strangeness of having a grown son that was physically older than him – let alone grandchildren both living and 'in the oven'- threatening to overwhelm him again, James cleared his throat to draw the attention of the children in the room.  
'Good morning!' he said cheerily, though if one were to really look into his eyes, they would know it was one place his smile had yet to venture.

'Prongs!' Albus and Jamie's eyes lit up, and they rushed towards him with such loving enthusiasm it caused James to choke back a sob. Not only did it stand as a stark reminder of all the years he had missed with his own son, but the second chance he had been granted to see the man his Harry had become, and meet the children, was resoundingly made apparent. He was quick to recover his resolve, scooting down to ruffle each boy's hair in turn and smile a little more genuinely at their choice of address; any derivative of 'grandfather' being very quickly dismissed in light of his physical youth.

_Harry had barely been talking when he had lost his parents the first time._

Swallowing back the sudden reminder, he shook his head to clear the thought and tried to strike up a conversation that wouldn't pierce him with memories of what had once been, and what had been missed.  
'What are you all doing up so early, hmmm?' he asked them, scrambling for safe territory.

His two grandsons exchanged a glance and shrugged, as though to say it was not unusual for them to be up so early, and it was Sirius who answered.  
'Albus always wakes up first, and that wakes up Jamie... who wakes up me,' he explained helpfully. Sticking a thumb over in the direction of his youngest siblings, he rolled his eyes. 'Dora and Reg sleep in the mostest cause they are still _babies_.'

'Am not!' Dora immediately protested, rising to her brother's bait.

James felt like a stag caught in wandlights; he and Lily had only experience with one child, he had no idea how to play devil's advocate between two toddlers. Ignoring the taunting voice in his head that pointed out that he might have gotten the experience had no one died and Harry had gotten to thereby spend his early childhood with the daughter of his parents' best friends a prominent fixture, he took the coward's way out by simply attempting to change the subject.  
'Where are your parents?' he asked feebly.

'Mum n' Dad are still asleep,' James Potter Jnr. informed his forebear conspiratorly, as though to suggest that would not be the case if he had his way. 'Aunt Estella told us she'll use us for potions if we woke 'em and Uncle Charlie promised to feed us to a dragon if we didn't listen to her, cause Mum was up with the baby again last night even though it isn't even born yet!'

James laughed.  
'Well I am sure if you had a whole other person growing inside of you and fighting to get out at all hours it might make sleep a little hard to come by for you, too,' he pointed out, still chuckling as he remembered the nights he'd been up with Lily when she was pregnant with Harry, and similarly swapped stories with Sirius, who had gone through it months later with Selina's pregnancy. He found it difficult to fathom his friend's daughter, whom he hadn't lived long enough to meet the first time, suddenly being a mother and aunt, but he stumbled over the words anyway. 'So, your Aunt Estella and Uncle Charlie are up, then?"

Jamie nodded, whilst Sirius cleared his throat to speak.  
'_My_ Mum and Dad went to go get breakfast. We always get Bagels for breakfast our first night here all together, like. _My_ Mum and Dad always wake up first.'

'Sounds delicious,' James mused. Suddenly feeling out of his depth with several sets of eyes all looking at him in expectation, he quickly excused himself from the room, clinging to the hope that he might fare better after some coffee.

Once down in the once gloomy kitchen of Grimmauld Place, James thanked the stars that either Charlie or Estella had already set a pot of coffee to brew and, navigating his way around the kitchen, proceeded to fix himself a mug. It was whilst leaning contemplatively against the counter, savouring the taste of the coffee and warmth of the mug on his hands, nothing but the subtle sound of a TV playing and children laughing in the distance to distract him, that he was roused from his reverie by the all too familiar roar of a bike.

_Padfoot_!

As soon as he thought of his friend, James jolted back into reality, swearing as the sudden movement prompted his coffee to spill all over his hands. Secondary to the slight sting of the hot beverage on skin, however, was the omnipresent ache that reared its ugly head at the reminder that it couldn't possibly be his best friend out there on his bike, but rather the daughter said wizard had never lived to see grow up. Taking a shaky breath, feeling suddenly bereft at the lack of company and wishing he had instead stayed in the awkward presence of the children he could only hope to get to know better, James found himself peering out the window in curiosity as Estella and Charlie failed to enter the house immediately after the bike shut off.

The bike looked exactly how James remembered it. Harry had told him the previous night how Hagrid had borrowed it during the war and it had all but been destroyed in a battle. Sure, Estella had been quick to add that she and her father had painstakingly rebuilt it during the months they had hidden at Shell Cottage with Charlie's older brother and sister-in-law, but James had been wholly unprepared for it to look just like it might have after he and his best friend had been out terrorising Muggle London in it. It was like a relic trapped in time... much like how he hadn't aged a day of the years he had been dead and how his old Invisibility Cloak was still the same.

Forcing himself to look instead at the figures who had disembarked from the bike, James could only bite back a groan at the memories the sight that greeted him had evoked. Estella was leaning against the bike, facing the house, dressed in riding leathers and shaking out the hair that had been confined in a helmet moments earlier. Today, she was wearing her hair long and black, in straight tresses so identical to her mother before her it was enough to make James do a double take from the distance he was standing. With her position against the bike, her arms snaking around Charlie's neck, tugging the taller wizard in for a kiss, it was almost like watching Selina and Sirius in another lifetime, only Sirius had clearly never had red hair, nor surely looked at his own daughter in the way Charlie was at that moment.

Through the thin antiquated glass, James could barely make out their voices; Charlie gesturing towards a lock box at the end of the seat and protesting about the breakfast going cold and Estella parrying back with something about heating charms before pulling her man back down for another kiss. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, James felt it was somewhat inappropriate to watch the daughter of his best friend making out with her lover, but he just couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away. Before him was the girl, nay woman, Sirius had given life to, who Sirius had given his life for. In that instant, James didn't know whether he should resent the girl for being the reason his best mate wasn't there to welcome him back into the realm of the living, or obligated to be there for her now that her father could not be. All he knew, was that he was inexplicably drawn to the young woman who represented all his friend had been and more, and that he would never want to see her come to harm.

'What are you staring at?'

James was roused from his thoughts by the revelation that he was no longer alone in the kitchen. Guiltily, he spun around and locked eyes with the one friend who _had_ returned to the land of the living, with him, reminding him in the process that the girl out in the courtyard leaning against the bike was technically as much a part of Moony, thanks to an adoption he was still having a hard time considering Sirius ever giving consent to. Realising in that same instant that the alpha wolf in Remus might not take too kindly to the sight of his cub snogging the father of her children at 7 in the morning, he scrambled to cover for her.  
'Oh, nothing,' he said a little too quickly. 'The kids told me Estella and Charlie had ducked out to pick up breakfast, I was just waiting for them to get back... Merlin, they've really done a number on this house...'

'Does it look as cheery outside?' Remus asked curiously, inching towards James – and the window – with a mind to see for himself.

'Cheery?' James struggled to reconcile the word with the sight that he had witnessed outside that window moments earlier. He caught himself short as his traitorous mind retorted '_sexy, more like_.' in his mind.

'You OK, Prongs? You put sour milk in that coffee... you look like you just swallowed something nasty...' Remus caught the expression of horror that had come over James at the sordid thought and mistaken it for distaste.

'_I did not just think of Padfoot's daughter that way!'_ James' mind reeled and admonished itself. It went without saying that he was a happily married man – Sirius too, back in the day – but that hadn't meant he and Sirius hadn't been able to... admire the scenery... when they were out and about having the odd boy's night out. Merlin, if Sirius were there now, he would have seen James' expression for what it was and had his bollocks for breakfast! Looking at Remus now, he could only be grateful that the wizard before him was unsuspecting of his rather lecherous thoughts.

'No,' he said, taking a deep breath and hoping he was doing the right thing by coming clean... to an extent. 'But I did just spot Padfoot's baby girl out there snogging Weasley in much the same way her parents would suck face...'

_Better Charlie's bollocks on a platter than his_, James thought traitorously.

In a measure of supreme self-control, Remus closed his eyes and looked as though he was reminding himself that Estella was in fact a mother of three and thus a grown up in every sense of the word. He stood entirely stock still, with the exception of a hand that twitched slightly, like it was fighting the urge to either reach for a wand or pull himself outside to intervene. He was saved from reacting in either way by the back door opening and Estella entering, arms full of paper bags and looking completely oblivious to what her relationship status was doing to the newly returned paternal figure in her life.

'Thanks, James!' she beamed at the dark-haired wizard whose close proximity to the door and fast reflexes had stepped in help her with the teetering stack of bags that had been magically crammed into the small lock box on the bike.

James could not help but take in the woman's glowing expression, her swollen lips, and be reminded of what she had just been up to. He could only imagine what the sight would be doing to the wizard who had the addition of werewolf senses to contend with.  
'James?'

James was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was still staring at Estella. He blinked and tore his gaze away, heat rising in his face much to his horror.  
_People he was near as related to should be banned from wearing leather... unless they were his wife_. Merlin.

Seemingly ignorant to the effect she was having, Estella shook her head.  
'Best set them down under a good Warming Charm if no one else is up yet,' she mused, sidling past the unresponsive wizard and making a beeline for the coffee pot. 'And have another coffee – you look like you need it.'  
Grey eyes caught amber as she took the initiative to hand her godfather a mug, the wizard the only one of the two men without a cup.  
'And you, Moony... are _you_ all right? You look like Jamie and Sirius have slipped you some of their Uncle George's 'special' chocolate...'

It was all James could do not to drop all the steaming breakfast bags as Remus' eyes sought his, narrowing in realisation. Very deliberately, he set the bags out on the kitchen table and stood well away as Estella swooped in to do a count, her own steaming coffee mug in her hand.  
'Oh blast, we left the kid's bag behind the bakery...' she frowned, her thumb immediately toying with the promise ring she wore, as though fidgeting.

'Well ahead of you, love,' smirked Charlie Weasley, suddenly Apparating into the middle of the kitchen, the missing bag in his hand. He set it down on the bench and adjusted the matching ring he wore, in a manner that suggested there was something decidedly magical to the matching pair.  
'Someone had handed it in to the store... without a warming charm they were ruined, but Gus knew one of us would be back and had another batch ready and waiting, his treat.'

'Hmmm, remind me to slip him a tenner next time,' Estella conspired, leaning in to her partner's kiss as he reached down to plant a chaste peck on her lips. Reluctantly pulling away, she shooed him towards the door. 'Now scoot, or you'll be really late for your debrief at the enclosure.'

'I wish I didn't have to go,' Charlie pouted huskily, not relinquishing his casual hold on Estella. Prompted by the throat-clearing and general uncomfortable shuffling of the other wizards in the room, he pecked her on the cheek a final time and stepped back. Reaching blindly into one of the other carry-out bags, he pulled out a bagel and proceeded to tear into the wrapping with his teeth, waving goodbye to the others in the room before Disapparating without warning.

'Eating whilst Apparating...' Estella tutted. 'One of these days he's going to Splinch food to his face. Now let's say we get this house up and running?'

The two wizards exchanged an awkward look, James silently and eagerly taking the task of retrieving the children, leaving Remus alone with his goddaughter.  
'You and Charlie were up early.'_  
_Remus Lupin yawned suddenly, still fatigued from the night before.

Estella pulled off her leather jacket and flung it over the back of the nearest chair, revealing a faded Muggle rock t-shirt and a strange contraption strapped to her bicep that Estella had passingly referred to as an iPod as she had taken it to show Arthur the night before.  
'Up? What says we actually slept?' she said suggestively, rolling her eyes at her godfather's mortified expression. Shaking her head rapidly, she corrected herself. 'Really... loved ones coming back from the death and fighting dragons in the same day? Would _you_ be able to sleep?'

'You must be exhausted,' Remus observed in concern, stepping in to give his goddaughter a sorely missed morning hug; the paleness and fatigue etched on his cub's face when spied up close sending his heart racing with worry.

'That's why Merlin invented the Pick-Me-Up Potion... and coffee,' Estella cut back, draining her cup and preparing to pour another. Sighing, she looked askance at her godfather and spoke with frank honesty. 'I was a little paranoid that if I fell asleep, I'd wake up to find that the last day has all been a dream...'  
She grinned ruefully.  
'Charlie is as accommodating as a pregnant Fireball if he doesn't get at least a three hour kip, and he kicked me out of the bedroom at 3am... you can bet he'll pop in after lunch and insist I nap when the twins go down-' Estella paused as she noticed the uncomfortable look that had come over her godfather's face at the mention of where she slept. She changed her tone.  
'Oh don't look so scandalised, Moony,' she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. 'How else did you think I became a mother?'

All colour drained from Remus' face, the resurrected lycan struggling to reconcile himself with the reality of his cub being a grown woman, much less all that it in turn entailed. Witnessing his goddaughter kissing her bona fide husband was one thing, imagining how they slept... he just didn't want to go there.  
'How long have you drank coffee?' he asked conversationally, blatantly changing the subject as Estella reached for the coffee pot and fetched an extra mug.

Estella cast her godfather a sidelong look, and shrugged.  
'Pretty much ever since I went to the States,' she answered him. 'I was a little uneasy about sleeping on the tour bus, so spent most nights keeping the driver company. Many a memory of pulling into all-night grease traps for a spot of coffee and junk food...'

'I'm surprised you could get hold of Lenny,' observed Remus, gratefully accepting the mug handed to him and cradling it thoughtfully. Lenny had turned his back on the Wizarding world during the _first_ war. 'I remember it took us months of writing back and forth between Muggle record companies for word about anything to get to him. I take it he hadn't heard of your apparent death?'

Estella shook her head stiffly.  
'It was hard enough telling him who actually had died,' she told Remus, after first reminding her godfather of the advent of the mobile phone in mainstream Muggle communications. 'He didn't want the backstory... though he was mighty chuffed to see you'd done your bit to repopulate the Wizarding world at large.'  
She paused to pull out a few wrapped bagels from their paper carry bags. Once gesturing for her godfather to reapply a warming charm as she plated up the greasy selection, she crossed over to the fridge and began fetching milk and juice for drinks.  
'I daresay Teddy's what convinced Len to slow down his nomadic ways and settle down a bit himself. Right, so things may not have worked out with his woman, but Emma's just darling... she's a few months older than Sirius J.'

'Sirius J?' Remus questioned, taking the initiative to deliver napkins to the table and top up the coffee pot for the other adults.

'Sirius Junior... Sirius John...' said Estella with a shrug, without looking at the man who, at least in part, represented half her son's name. 'We call him Sirius, but if I'm trying to set him apart in my mind, or in conversations with people who knew _him_, he's Sirius J.'

'_He_ would be so proud of you,' said Remus quietly, planting a kiss atop Estella's head as he stepped in to give her a quick one-armed squeeze.

'I am glad you're here,' Estella reassured him, her tone just as quiet. Her pain at her father's absence remained unsaid. Though choosing between her father and godfather would be an impossible task, she would never begrudge or resent the man before her for being the one to return.

Their quiet moment was quickly dispensed with at the sound of footsteps. The kitchen door swung open to reveal a mop of unruly black hair atop a topless body. Harry, wearing only striped pyjama bottoms, shuffled in to the kitchen like a rudely awakened wizard trying to escape the cause of his consciousness.  
'Is that coffee and bagels I smell?' he said, the clarity in his voice indicating that he had been awake a while.

'Good morning to you, too,' Estella snorted, waving a hand sightlessly towards the place she'd last left the coffee pot. She turned to look the bespectacled wizard over. 'How long have you been up?'

Harry took a moment to fix his coffee and savour the first mouthful.  
'Albus crawled in to bed with us at about four... Ginny was tossing ever since. She finally fell back asleep after Al heard Jamie and the twins head downstairs with Charlie, but I couldn't get in a wink,' said Harry with a yawn. 'Ginny's still sleeping and I couldn't hear a peek out of Teddy's room as I passed... suspect you had him up quite late there, Moony; kid's rarely still out at this hour.'

'Well we better let Teddy be,' she warned, casting her attention to a guilty looking Remus. '-Frankly, I am surprised you're up this early.'

'Perhaps you're not the only one of us who stayed awake all night,' suggested Remus loftily, implying with just an expression that he had stayed up to watch his son sleep. He drained the rest of his coffee and reached for the pot to pour another. As an afterthought, he added; 'I wouldn't worry about Teddy... I put a Charm on his door to keep unwelcome noise out.'

Catching each other, then, in a yawn, godfather and goddaughter stared at each other thoughtfully, as though in a silent stand off over who would order who to bed first, before Harry finally broke the silence.  
'Crazy, the pair of you,' he muttered, nudging between the pair who had come to lean side by side at the kitchen bench, for purposes of reaching for a bagel. As Estella automatically swatted at him, he dodged away with a fluidity that bespoke practice, and sought to distract the disgruntled host.  
'You still going in to work today?' he asked her, busying himself instead with summoning last minute items to the table.

Estella looked incredulous.  
'Work waits for no witch,' she reminded her godbrother airily, before looking at her godfather apologetically.  
'We've half a lifetime to catch up on, I know,' she sympathised. 'But I can't turn my back on work... as much as people would understand, were I to take a leave of absence, I am the only person who can complete these particular projects... if keeping to my current schedule ensures that I not only get three weeks off next month, but also enjoy that time with my family instead of spending it worrying about just what I have to finish when I go back, then I'm sorry, it's something I've got to do-'

Whilst Harry shook his head, muttering something about workaholics, Remus favoured his cub with a smile.  
'The Sorting Hat placed you well in Ravenclaw, Cub,' he praised her. Taking a sip from his coffee, he added with a shrug. 'I'll just spend the time you're working getting to know my son and your children...'

'Oh, nice to know I'll be missed, then,' drawled Estella sarcastically, before sobering and continuing with all manner of seriousness. 'Though you can refer to my mighty spawn as your grandchildren, if you're willing... 'god-grandchildren' is a bit of an earful and you did technically adopt me – you're as much a grandparent to them as Dad would have been. Just look at Regulus – he's the image of Teddy at the same age!'

Remus' grin was so wide, it looked like it might split his face in two. Wrapping an arm around his goddaughter in appreciation, he pulled the young woman into an embrace.  
'Well you know in my heart of hearts they were my little grandcubs from the moment I set eyes on them,' he confessed into Estella's hair. 'But I didn't want to make any assumptions-'

'Oh don't be daft, Moony,' Estella scolded him lightly, pulling away to begin setting down a bagel on each plate at the table. She shook a wad of greaseproof paper at him. 'The only reason you're 'Moony' to them is because it might've been strange for the kids with Teddy knowing you as Dad whilst his bona fide siblings compare you to their Grandpa Arthur... who was quite a few years your senior even before you went and died, came back, and lost ten years.'

Harry chose that moment to pipe in, the dishevelled wizard having busied himself with putting the finishing touches on setting the table – the very same piece of furniture that had once hosted Order meetings a generation ago.  
'Well at least you've still got a few years on us, Remus,' Harry pointed out in relief, highlighting the awkwardness of being older than his own parents.

Estella grinned, and poked her godfather in the side.  
'Wait until James hears your Professor voice.'

Colouring slightly, Remus ducked his head, his mouth twitching upwards of its own accord.  
'Oh, I daresay he would liken it to my 'Prefect' voice,' he said. Turning to Harry, he added hypothetically. 'We could slip Prongs an Aging Potion... he _is_ enjoying being so close in age to his grandkids a little _too_ much...'

As if on cue, a loud thump could be heard on the landing of the floor above. Dust trickled from the rafters, the charmed candelabra hanging from one of the exposed beams swaying slightly as the muffled sounds of laughing children heralded their imminent arrival. Then, just as quickly as the noise had started the ruckus stopped with the shattering of glass.

'What the...' Harry's eyes widened, and he set down the coffee cup he had since returned to, intent on investigating.

There was a scuffle of footsteps above and muffled gasps before the lone adult supervising the preschoolers called out.  
'S'all right! My bad!' James Potter's voice was as loud as it was guilty of some form of mischief.

Estella looked skyward for divine patience to be bestowed upon her, shaking her head all the while.  
'Ten Galleons says that father of yours thought it a bright idea to break the ice with the kids by transforming into Prongs-'

'I refuse that bet,' said Harry quickly, his eyes shining with humour. 'Long as he fixes what he breaks and at least waits until the kids have finished their OWLs before showing them how-'

'Do you really think they'll hold out that long if we impose that upon them?'

'Oh, I don't know... you did well with that Potions demonstration last month...' Harry pointed out glibly.

'What Potions demonstration?' Remus asked curiously.

'The boys decided that it would be a good idea to trade up their toy potions set for the real thing,' Estella explained. 'Blessedly, the cupboards were spelled against granting them access to anything life threatening, but it didn't stop them from torching a hole in the bottom of the cauldron and near about burning down the Potions lab.'  
She smiled thinly at the memory.  
'After we'd averted the immediate disaster, I sat them down in the lab for three hours, showing them various ways in which they could have burnt, poisoned or otherwise disfigured themselves by working unsupervised with Potions equipment. Then, as an ongoing 'punishment', they are required to spend one hour with me a week, assisting me replenish the family's supplies,' she exchanged a look with Harry. 'They may regret ever showing an interest in the subject, but who are we to deprive such curiosity of information?'

'You realise they are only interested in the potions that can prank people,' Harry pointed out with a laugh.

'And I've no doubt their Uncle George indulges them that at every given opportunity,' Estella added, going on to tell Remus that, after observing her and Harry's respective sons at work, it was clear someone else – namely George – had already attempted to teach them a few basics.

'What's this I hear about Potions?' James Potter barrelled into the room, a Jamie and Sirius under either arm; the younger twins milling around his feet excitedly. He set Estella and Harry's respective sons down at the foot of the table, where they then joined their younger siblings and cousins in vying for his attention, and looked from Remus to his son and Estella in suspicion. 'I hope you lot weren't conspiring to slip any potions into my Pumpkin Juice. Because if you were, I'd only find it sporting to mention I have allies, now...'

At this, Jamie Potter and Sirius Black flashed their respective parent matching mischievous looks that would make their namesakes before them proud. Scooting down to the boys' level, Estella's voice was as sweet as it was laced with playful warning.  
'Well, just remember boys, who has the best access to potions supplies, hmmm?' she pointed out, before giving first James Snr and then Remus a meaningful look. 'And James, if you're going to insist on drawing battle lines, I must insist on calling Moony-'

At the implication that should an all-out prank war ensue, he should side with his goddaughter and Harry, Remus nodded his assent and grinned wolfishly at his old school friend.  
'And I'll call Teddy,' Harry threw in, claiming dibs on his godson.

'We call Uncle George!' little James and Sirius piped up in unison, both preschoolers sounding triumphant.

'I don't see how that will help you, boys,' said Estella with a dramatic sigh, leaning in close to let them in on a little secret; 'not since your Uncle George swore an Unbreakable Vow not to do anything to the detriment of his business partners.'

Two little sets of eyes widened in realisation and looked to Harry for confirmation. Spotting the grin he wore, they looked to each other in defeat.  
'Awwwww, no fair,' they said in unison. Sirius turned, then, and looked to his mother imploringly. 'We were just gonna have some fun, Mum.'

'Oh, I am sure things will still be... _fun_... without making your Uncle George choose sides,' Estella promised her son, shooting Harry's father a furtive look, as though expecting him to renege on his plans now the sides had been tipped in favour of his opposition.

James narrowed his eyes and hesitated – exhibiting a prideful stubbornness Estella had more readily come to associate with his son – but any response the former elder may have issued was broken off by little Sirius' startled cry.  
'Mummy, your nose!' Sirius said in alarm, as a trickle of blood suddenly dripped from his mother's nostril. Nimble little hands darted out and reached for Estella's wrist, revealing to all those who would otherwise have not known to look, a charmed metal cuff.

Intercepting as Estella's concerned godfather moved to close the distance between them, Harry placed a restraining hand on the slightly older wizard's arm.  
'Don't touch it, Remus,' Harry warned firmly. 'It's silver.'

Remus' eyes flew open wide in shock, and he looked to his cub for confirmation. When his goddaughter could not bring herself to meet his eye as she nodded her confirmation, he demanded an explanation.  
'Silver? But Estella, your allergy...'

Estella visibly shuddered, and rose to her feet, swaying slightly to her own detriment. She kept her eyes averted from everybody. As the blood that had been used in the Magical Adoption ritual was already tainted with Lycanthropy, Estella had inherited from her godfather certain... sensitivities. She was not cursed like he was, but like her common-law brother Bill who had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback outside of the full moon, her skin was mildly irritated upon contact with silver, and along with a healthy appetite and heightened senses, she was drawn to the outdoors – to the moon – a couple of nights each month.  
'It's the only thing that keeps a leash on things,' Estella muttered, attempting without effect, to bat Harry's hands away as her godbrother took her hand in his own and inspected the metal ring that was as much a shackle as it resembled. No sooner had the wizard touched the thick shiny band – the bracelet clearly charmed to be invisible unless specifically drawn attention to it, as there was no way it could have been missed – did Harry yelp and reel back in shock.  
'Estella!' he cried, rubbing the tips of his fingers furiously, trying to sooth away the magical charge he'd felt when touching the hidden shackles his godsister had to wear. Eyes wide with alarm, he looked around the room, listless, before settling Estella purposefully. Conjuring the woman a handkerchief, he dabbed at her bleeding nose gently and frowned. 'Merlin, why didn't you say anything? It must be taking every ounce of strength you have... we have to get you sorted...'

'I was going to wait until I got to work,' complained Estella, but it sounded like a weak argument.

Predictably, Harry rounded on her.  
'Even if you could last through breakfast, Estella, do you really suppose you would have been able to expel the pent up magic alone?' the esteemed Auror was incredulous.

Estella's eyes flew to her godfather in defeat. Unable to hold his questioning gaze, she focused her attention on Harry, pulling the bespectacled wizard close and hissing in his ear.  
'I didn't want to have to explain things so soon... I didn't want them to see me like this...' she confessed, her eyes shining with unspent emotion.

Harry looked between the two oblivious wizards in the room, silently imploring them to keep their questions to themselves for the time being. With the children being so eerily quiet, it was apparent that the original marauders knew to hold their tongues. Turning back to Estella, then, Harry pleaded with the witch to see reason.  
'You've left it long, this time... I can't be a match for you. Not alone,' he admitted in a fast whisper.

Estella's eyes continued to avoid Remus', seeking instead those of Harry's father.  
'You were an Auror, right?' she asked, though her tone suggested she already knew and was simply seeking confirmation. James nodded once, tersely, his hand drifting towards the wand that had recently been returned to him by instinct, as though a threat were imminent. Taking a deep breath, Estella fortified herself against the look of hurt she was bound to find on her godfather's face, and brought herself to look the man in the eye.  
'Moony, please understand... later,' she pleaded with him; 'I need for you to keep an eye on your _grandcubs... _and keep Teddy occupied – he's bound to be beside himself when he finds out.'  
She rubbed irritably at small, unpretentious promise ring she wore; magical properties interwoven within the stone working fast to send a very distinct message to the twin Charlie wore as a symbol of their commitment and affection. The ring her uncle had given her before their worlds had been turned so inexorably upside down was on a chain around her neck; the pendant from her mother that had previously taken pride of place closest to her heart now protecting her own daughter.  
'Charlie's up to speed; but he can't get away from work so soon,' she announced. She had a silent exchange with Harry for but a fleeting moment, the slightly taller wizard nodding quickly and stepping over to sidle up alongside his father in anticipation of a Side-Apparation. As the pair disappeared from the kitchen with a loud 'crack', Estella fixed the children in the room with a reassuring wink – her unannounced disappearances with Harry hardly unusual to the children who had grown up with her volatile magic – before favouring her godfather with one final sympathetic look. 'Ginny, Teddy, or Charlie, if he returns before I do, will answer your questions. You've nothing to worry about... it's perfectly... expected, I guess you could say...'

'Estella...' Remus' voice was hesitant, and it looked like it took every ounce of his strength to keep a physical distance from his cub and the silver that could potentially harm him.

'Mummy OK, Moony,' said Dora assertively, rushing over to Remus and holding up her arms to be picked up. 'Up! Up!'

Sensing no fear or alarm radiating off the children – who by rights would have more cause to be concerned about their mother and aunt than he – Remus seemed to visibly relax. He nodded slowly at his goddaughter, sweeping the woman's daughter into his arms with practiced ease.  
'Let us see about getting you hungry little cubs some breakfast, hmmm?' he addressed the children, who all started to gravitate towards him at the mention of food. He locked eyes with his goddaughter, glancing over at her meaningfully as he continued to address the children now left in his care. 'I'm sure your Mummy – that's Aunt Estella to you, Jamie – will have quite the tale to tell her Uncle Moony when she gets back.'

Hearing, then, the sound of the other women in the house making their way down the stairs, but not quite feeling like she could withstand the delay of encountering them first, Estella mouthed her silent thanks to her godfather and, grasping the Portkey she always kept on her person, vacated Grimmauld Place, bound for the location she and Harry had come to know very well over the years.

END CHAPTER

**A/N: Sort of a cliffhanger? It's really nothing... honest. I wanted Estella to kind of have her magic, but not so much control of it. Anyway, clearly James and Remus are having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Harry and Estella are so grown up. It felt slightly... weird... to write James watching Estella make out (heck, it was strange writing Estella making out :O) but I figured it to be a clear way to highlight the difficulties the Returned adults are facing. Plus, I suspect James' friendship with Selina and Sirius' with Lily to be so that they would playfully flirt with each other's wives, comfortable in the knowledge that they loved the respective women they'd married and it was all in good fun. Seeing a girl who was the image of Selina making out with a guy next to Sirius' bike... it's not that James finds himself *attracted* to the Estella (even though there is very few years between them, physically speaking), but rather he can see all the ways in which she embodies her parents, who he misses, and that conflicts him because the only thing that should remind him of Sirius and Selina so strongly - without actually being either person - is, in his mind at least, an unborn child; not this fully fledged adult with a partner and children of her own. And of course because he has been denied the chance to see either Harry or Estella grow, he's not really developed a 100% innocent, platonic, uncle-y relationship with the daughter of his best friend - Estella wasn't even born when he'd died - so his automatic reaction is to of course, check her out and flirt innocently (like he might have with Selina)... and then mentally berate himself for doing so because, gah, Padfoot's daughter! Jury's out on whether or not Estella will be uncomfortable with the attention or tease James mercilessly...**

**NEXT UPDATE: The next two chapters are pretty short, and signal the end of what I have *typed*, so really can't say how long... but I would like to post them together, in terms of maintaining flow. We will be seeing how Estella deals with uncontrollable bursts of magic, pop by the Burrow for a bit of common-law-in-law action, witness a nice Harry/Estella moment (in the brotherly/sisterly sense, sheesh), and visit Estella at work, where we encounter an unexpected guest...  
**


	5. If you go down to the Moors today

**Updated: 13 October 2009, in celebration of the fact I won a return flight to London yesterday... to which yes, I about asked the person to called to tell me 'what do you mean, RETURN? I'm not making that same mistake (of getting on the plane to go home again) twice!' No, in all actuality, I think I asked the poor fellow to repeat himself about three times and then went something like... oh, okay, all right then... thank you... before politely hanging up the phone and walking the rest of the way home from the train station in a bewildered daze.**  
**I won't then defile myself by repeating any mention of the scene of what transpired once it all actually began to sink in... suffice to say I hardly slept last night and the postman can expect to get mauled every day until the official documentation arrives in the post... !  
**

**A/N: I try to form the words of apology, but I am still befuddled over just where the time has gotten to! I have 12,000 words to write in just shy of four weeks, and this is the second-last chapter I have typed before I have to get back to transcribing oh, 250 pages worth of scribble (I am still writing most mornings on the bus), so all bets are off for the next update, I am afraid. But I am still making the time to at least _write_. Honest!**

**Chapter Five**: **If you go down to the Moors today...**

'This looks familiar...' James Potter looked over at his son in question. He turned to follow Harry's eye line, recognising the crooked chimney of the Burrow over the rise as it peeked over the horizon. 'We were just here last night!'

'There's not a Muggle for miles,' Harry explained, as they waited for Estella to Portkey in. 'After the final battle, Bill and Arthur warded off this section of the moors to help... _contain_... things in situations such as this.'

'Just what _is_ the situation?' James asked quietly, not missing the way how his son was fingering his wand holster, much like an Auror would when about to answer a call.

Harry sighed, and rubbed at his scar irritably. The mark didn't bother him anymore, but whenever he found himself confronted with something untoward, it was a familiar habit.  
'Charlie told you of Estella's magic? How she can't access it in the same way you or I can, with a wand?' At James' nod, he pinched the bridge of his nose and endeavoured to elaborate. 'At first, we thought her magic had diminished entirely because of the ritual Severus did to fake her death. After the adoption, she gained some residual powers... she could morph like Tonks did and fly a broom. But after the final battle, we discovered that wasn't all there was to it...'  
Harry's voice trailed off as he glanced over across the field, to the place where he knew Estella's Portkey would deliver the witch any moment. He caught his father's eye.  
'Estella – her magic – is like a potion left on the boil too long,' he couldn't stop his lips from quirking at the irony of the analogy. 'Left unattended, the potion does nothing... at first. Left too long, it will eventually boil over... or explode. It's most controlled when she is riled up and she has something to channel it into, or towards... but sometimes it just build up and needs release.'  
He rubbed at his wrists, both men remembering the shackle-like cuffs that had appeared around Estella's limbs; their apparent concealment charm dissipating like an alarm.  
'In a lot of ways, she's a lot like child prone to bursts of Accidental Magic, only with very adult power' Harry explained. To his credit, James Potter winced at the ramifications. Harry nodded slowly in affirmation. 'The silver cuffs act as an inhibitor. It means she can't use any form of magic day to day, save riding a broom and being a Metamorphagus, but with the children so small she would rather live as a Squib than take that sort of risk. The cuffs give her a sense of control and us, a warning...'

'It's not healthy to keep magic suppressed,' James surmised, appearing to brace himself for what was to come. 'I wasn't invited along for the fresh air, was I?'

'No, you weren't,' a strong, feminine voice carried itself across the field. The two dark-haired wizards spun to see that Estella had arrived.

'Cast your strongest shield,' Harry ordered his father, eyes never leaving Estella as he assumed a defensive position. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see James scramble to follow suit; only when both wizards had done so did Estella nod and raise her arms over her head, clicking the two cuffs together in a motion that freed her – and her magic – of their bonds.

The blast of white light that emanated from Estella was unexpected as it was powerful. Both wizards, despite their shields, were thrown back with the force; albeit at a decidedly cushioned pace. Around them, the outer wards of the designated duelling field rippled and shimmered as they worked to contain the surge of magical energy within its walls.

'Now what?' a bewildered James Potter looked askance at his son, both wizards lying in the grass and in no apparent hurry to move.

It was Harry who rolled to his feet first. Extending a hand to his father, he smiled reassuringly.  
'Now...' he said dramatically, smiling over at Estella to let her know they were both all right. 'Now... we duel.'

* * *

'That was... quite unlike anything I've ever seen in all my life,' said James Potter afterwards, battered and bewildered, as he accepted a late breakfast from his son's mother-in-law. Arthur and Molly had, of course, been alerted as soon as Estella's initial burst of magic had tested the wards within their property, and James didn't know whether to be comforted or alarmed by just how routine it all seemed to those around him. Across the table, Arthur had taken leave from work to help his returned brother-in-law assimilate back into society, and thus was currently buttering toast; chatting away about his latest Muggle project as though he hadn't just witnessed his daughter-in-law exhaust her own peculiar form of magic under such volatile circumstances. The extension of the Weasley family had been surprised, to say the least, to arrive at the family dinner the night before to another unfamiliar face at the dinner table. Whilst it had been widely held that both of Molly's brothers had been killed in battle, Fabian had been cut down by the Killing Curse; returning with all the rest. Having chosen to imbibe an aging potion – he'd been barely out of his teens when he had been killed – Fabian Prewett was quiet and withdrawn, neither quite capable of coming to terms with his twin's continued death and still very much traumatised by the circumstances in which both brothers had originally been killed. George Weasley, having felt firsthand what it was like to lose a twin, had pried his long-lost uncle out from under Molly's reach; he and his wife Angelina taking Fabian home with them. Molly, meanwhile, seemed peculiarly oblivious to her brother's heartache, focusing instead on the simple fact of his being alive once more. Bustling around the kitchen, she strove to allay James' concerns about Estella with a similar brand of optimism.  
'You get used to it, dear. We all did,' Molly Weasley patted James on the shoulder as she passed, reaching over him as he sat on the table to top up his Pumpkin Juice. Her thoughts quickly shifting to her brother, she beamed uncontrollably. 'I'll have to speak to Fabian about adding his magic to the wards... Estella really tested them this morning!'

'Estella's healthy, and I like to think she's happy, too,' said Harry with a shrug, his tone belying his suspicion that the same might not be said for Fabian Prewett. He set down his coffee mug and pursed his lips in distaste. 'Though I am sure you can appreciate why we had you come along, and not Remus. Not even Charlie's seen her like this more than a handful of times.'

'-She shouldn't be ashamed of what she cannot control!' James was quick to exclaim.

Harry smiled at his father's protective streak, but was quick to correct the man.  
'Estella is not ashamed,' he informed him. 'Not many people can handle duelling someone they love like that. There have been times when we get quite... carried away... as I am sure you might be able to imagine. Last time, I was laid up in bed for a week... and the time before that, Estella had exhausted herself so thoroughly that she couldn't morph for over a month.'

Today, Estella had looked tired and worn after the exercise, but had remained optimistic that she would be back to her old self after a hot shower and jug of coffee. She was upstairs now, in a bathroom closest to Charlie's childhood bedroom, where she had come to keep a cache of clothes for just such occasions.

'How often does Estella's magic... expel... itself like that?' James asked a moment later, between mouthfuls of bacon. He and Sirius had always been ravenous after a day of Auror's training. A pain gripped his heart as thoughts drifted to his best friend, the bacon in his mouth swallowing like lead at the reminder that, unlike himself, Sirius wasn't coming back. Padfoot and Selina might have denied him the title of godfather out of deference to Remus but Lily was her godmother and even if she weren't, he would look out for the daughter of his absent friend. It would be but the very least he could do to repay the 12 years in Azkaban the wrong-accused Animagus had suffered because of his family.

'Once every couple of months or so,' said a voice from the doorway, Estella light footed as she navigated her way around the kitchen like she had been living there all her life. When the wizards in the know exchanged pointed looks, she sighed in admittance, amending her response. 'They've been steadily increasing in their frequency. It's all tied to my emotional state of being, you see. Harry, I think I need to maybe brush up on my Occlumency or something.'

'It would only delay the inevitable; intensify things when they do boil over...' said Harry with a frown, reaching for the newspaper that lay forgotten at Arthur's place at the table and scanning the headlines distractedly. By outward appearances, it would seem as though the pair had had this particular conversation many times before. 'Maybe we should try you on wanded stuff, day-to-day. The increase in occurences could well be a sign that your magic has evolved to the point of allowing we try-'

'I'm not ready for that,' said Estella shortly, rubbing at the now-invisible cuffs she again wore. 'It's still too risky. The kids are too young.'

'Are you still planning on heading into work, dear?' said Molly, the Weasley matriarch deftly changing the course of the conversation; choosing instead to draw attention to the younger witch's choice of attire. 'Kingsley has issued a Ministry Decree stating that families of the Returned may take unprejudiced leave of absence to help resettle their loved ones into life. Why, Arthur has taken today off to go visit with Fabian at George and Angelina's; take him to Gringotts to sort out some paperwork with Bill-'

'It's not quite 9, I was planning on stopping by the office just after the rush,' Estella cut the woman off with a shrug, reaching over and stealing a piece of bacon from James' plate.

James froze, his hand dropping before it could swat Estella's away.  
'What about Moony... and the children?' he asked, in an emerging moment of adult authority. 'Remus is surely going spare with worry after that shock departure...'

'Remus knows me better than that,' Estella scoffed, though as soon as she said it, she looked as though she wasn't so sure of that fact. A lot have time had passed. Recovering quickly, she maintained her original course. 'I'm sure the kids will keep him occupied. I only need to check some mail and run a few errands... I'll be done and back in time for lunch. Harry, can you see Regulus to my office? It's his day with me today.'

It had been explained the night before that Estella and Charlie – and Ginny and Harry too – endeavoured to leave their children in the care of others as little as possible. As a child, Estella had spent nearly every day of her preschool years occupying herself in the corner of her uncle's classroom, watching him brew in his lab, or mark essays in his office. She wanted to instill in her children a clear comprehension of what their parents did for a living, and so several times a week she structured her day to involve activities that one of her children could safely observe or participate in. Harry too, having been deprived for any information about the Magical world the first 11 years of his life, latched on to the idea and strove to raise his children in a similar vein, the two families often look after each other's children in their respective offices when one or the other had sensitive work to be getting on with. As head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Harry did not spend a lot of time in the field, and there was not a trainee or Auror under his charge who his children – or indeed Estella's – did not know by name, rank and division.

But at the insinuation that, for Estella, this day – this first full day of having members of their family back – was to be business as usual? Harry couldn't fathom her cordial indifference. Rising from his chair stiffly – his body still tense from the recent workout – he quietly excused himself from the table and favoured his godsister with a meaningful look.  
'Estella, a word?'

It was not a request.

Rolling her eyes, Estella pushed her chair out from the table and without so much as a glance at the others, followed Harry out of the room.  
'The world doesn't stop, Harry...' she began wearily, but Harry cut her off.

'You of all people should know how precious life is!' he hissed at her, struggling to understand her countenance. 'I would have thought you would be the first to take leave from work... stand up on the rooftop and yell your joy to the world, for all to hear. But no. You're still keeping to the regular schedule, pushing people – pushing _Remus_ – aside like he's always been there and will continue to do so until you're good and ready to grace him with your presence!'

'That's out of order, Harry,' said Estella quietly, all too aware that Harry had not cast any Privacy Charms. 'You don't understand.'

'Well then _make_ me understand, Estella,' said Harry in exasperation, leaning in close and running a shaking hand through his hair. 'Because Merlin help me, I have no other plans but to spend this day with my parents – my _parents_, Estella. Do you remember nothing of the Mirror in my first year? - and I can't do that in good conscience if I'm to be in the position where I have to humour Remus with platitudes because you can't be bothered to shuffle your routine to accommodate him!'

Tears welled up in Estella's eyes at Harry's harsh words. Unable to look the wizard in the eye, her eyes drifted to a point over his shoulder, where she could see James hovering in the doorway, looking as though he was torn between coming to her defence and standing by his son's words. Trembling with emotion – she was always particularly vulnerable after magically depleting herself – Estella looked at Harry pleadingly.  
'Please, just... cast a Privacy Charm first,' she whispered brokenly, looking away then so that there was no chance of catching James' eye. She could feel Harry shift, as he likely gave his father an apologetic look. A moment later, and she looked up to find herself and Harry encased within a pearlescent bubble; the occupants within able to see out if they looked hard enough, but anyone outside unable to see or hear in.

'All right, so spill,' said Harry softly, reaching up and, in a rare moment of affection, brushed aside a stray lock of hair from his godsister's face.

'Teddy has his father back, now,' Estella whispered. 'I wanted to give them space, Harry. I had all those years with Moony to myself; Theodore deserves better than to have to share his father with me.'

All Harry could do was frown at Estella's admission. Before he could bring himself to issue a response to the woman, she continued brokenly.  
'And we don't know enough about this... this phenomenon, Harry. There is no telling how long it will last. If it's even permanent. I don't think I could go through losing him twice. It took all I had to get through it the first time...'

'Yet you will step back and allow my godson to get close to his father... even though you suspect he will lose him before too long?' said Harry, slightly incredulous. Estella looked up at him sharply, but Harry held a finger over her lips and bade her silence. 'What, were you going to tell me _Teddy_ ought to seize every borrowed moment he has to get to know his father, because there no telling how long it will last? Then why, pray tell, are you denying yourself of that same opportunity?'  
He stepped back slightly to take Estella's trembling hands in his own.  
'Don't let things pass you by, Estella,' he pleaded with her. 'Losing anyone twice is a horrifying thought, but surely the risk of that is better than the regret you'd surely live with if you took advantage of all we've just been blessed with.'

'When did you get to be so profound, Harry Potter?' said Estella hoarsely, after staring at him long and hard, in a silent battle of wills. She pulled him close and fell into the waiting embrace. Her voice muffled by his shoulder, she shook her head in self-reproach. 'I've been a right prat, haven't I?'

'It's barely been a day, Estella,' Harry assured her. 'I think we got it in time... before it could do any egos any damage...'

Estella pulled away and swatted at her godbrother.  
'I really _do_ need to go into the office for a bit today, though,' she said resignedly, repeating her earlier sentiments, though without the self-preserving agenda. Smiling ruefully, she winked at the taller wizard. 'But what's to say I can't take with me anyone who wants to have a nosy around? You too, for that matter. The wizarding world is still reeling with the news... it will be quite the spectacle...'

'I should loan my father a set of my robes,' said Harry conspiringly, referring to the uniform he wore as head of his department. 'We'll see if people really do see double when they look at me-'

'I'm sure there's something in the Wheeze's Vintage range that can alter his eyes for a time... hmmm...' said Estella thoughfully, a playful glint sparkling in her eyes.

Harry chose that moment to lower the Privacy Charm, the pair of them turning to face a pacing James Potter. The original Marauder took one look between the two and, recognising the distinct light in Estella's eyes as something he'd so often seen in her father's eyes before her, was immediately on his guard.  
'All sorted?' he said casually, though inwardly he was feeling the absence of his partner-in-crime more acutely than ever. It wasn't often that he had been left outnumbered like this, and Sirius had always seemed to possess a means of deducing information in the most underhanded method possible. They'd used to joke and call it his latent Slytherin trait.

Harry and Estella exchanged a knowing look.  
'Oh, how do you suppose you'd feel up to a wee little... prank... upon the wizarding community at large today?' offered Estella with a slight grin. 'I mean, everyone's always said how much Harry's looked like you-'

'-Except for having Mum's eyes,' said Harry with a roll of said eyes.

Estella nodded, and her grin widened.  
'So we think we should go about testing that theory. You in?'

'Do broomsticks fly? Hell yes!'

END CHAPTER

Next Chapter: We see where Estella works, and get to see a little more of Regulus and Teddy...


	6. Say What?

**Disclaimer:** Estella is my low-maintenance, child of my heart but that's about it :P

**A/N: **All right, so I know it's been forever between updates, and I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, but this chapter marks the end of what I have TYPED up of this story. There exists a further 300+ hand-written scrawl (from the past six months of daily bus/train commuting) that I have yet to make sense of and transcribe... why? Because the evil plot bunnies keep driving the story forward and I find myself writing without actually TYPING anything up for sharing purposes... gah. Soooo it may be a while before the next update, but I am continuing to put to pen a continuation of this story. At present, I have hit a sticking point in the story... i.e. I kinda see where I want things to end up, but am stuck for content to bring it all together... so I would appreciate some feedback on where you all may wish this story to go, and end... and I mean really end, because after five years, two completed epic 'novels' and this current WIP I think it is time.

**Last time… **We see how Estella's damaged magic now manifests / expels itself, and gain some insight into her closeness to Harry, and their place within the extended Weasley family, and the insecurities she now feels about taking away from the time Teddy deserves to demand from his returned father.

**Updated: Thursday 31 December 2009... a very happy New Year to you all: here's hoping 2010 brings us all some measure of our dreams!**

**Chapter VI Say What?**

'You write textbooks?' Remus' eyebrows disappeared beyond his hairline as he took in his goddaughter's office, his son by his side with Estella's typically pensive and quietest youngest child Regulus in his arms.

Estella faltered in her tour.  
'Compile content for them, technically speaking,' Estella corrected him. 'It might have taken a decade to implement, but after the Lockhart fiasco – and not to mention all the rubbish that had been written about Harry – it became increasingly apparent that the Ministry needed to appoint an independent regulator to mediate and fact check the content of books being marketed as historical or educational texts. Officially, I am one of a few Researchers on consignment to the Ministerial Commission created to verify factual texts.'  
She ran a hand across one of the many shelves of old leather-bound books; many of the tomes rare and of varying value.  
'I verify the facts... research for unwritten texts on request,' she said with a shrug. 'It's work that allows me to keep flexible hours, and bring the kids to work. And I don't need magic... just a magical education.'

Remus' eyes trailed to an old battered cauldron that sat on the mantle above the fireplace. Once upon a time he suspected it had been amongst Estella's or her uncle's first cauldrons and now it looked like it held lollies.  
'How did you know about the extra potions ordered for St. Mungo's?' he asked curiously.

'Old friends,' said Estella, looking nostalgic. 'I take tea with the proprietor of the Apocathery twice a week. There's still a patch of garden at the cottage that supplies the shop with the rarer ingredients of the Wolfsbane Potion, and it's a rather closely held secret that the man is a Squib.'

Teddy set Regulus down, who toddled over to the nearest bookshelf and extracted a children's book that had been stored at his height for that particular purpose. Retracing familiar steps, the boy took his selection and settled down in a small toddler-sized armchair that sat on the side of the fireplace closest to the window and besides his mother's desk. Located in Muggle London, Estella's office was for all intents and purposes – with the exception of the ornamental placement of a cauldron – entirely Muggle in appearance. A slim Muggle laptop sat on the edge of the ornately carved desk Remus could recognise as a relic of Grimmauld Place. The titles of the books on the shelves were Charmed to appear Muggle and likely imbued with Charms to prevent curious Muggles from looking inside. They had travelled to the office via the Ministry, a securely-issued Port Key depositing them at a consigned 'hotspot' a few blocks from Estella's place of work; Remus had a suspicion not even her Magical bosses had a clear view of _where_ she actually spent her work hours. The survivors of the war had explained the night before how, after the attacks on the Ministry during the war, many witches and wizards chose to hold offices in secure, unlisted Muggle neighbourhoods. They were devoid of wards, direct transport and communication connections and any other traceable magical signature that would draw attention to it. No one intent on working or visiting would Port Key or Apparate within a five block radius, Owl Post was distributed in the same way by which a Muggleborn's family could contact the witch or wizard of their blood, and though an Emergency Floo was enabled, it was outbound only and once used would necessitate workplace relocation. With Estella being a somewhat notorious, high profile player in the war effort – if not for her own eventual contribution, but for her connection to those who had stood on the front lines – those wishing to restore 'the old ways' had not been especially pleased when Estella had decided to situate her office outside the re-fortified Ministry complex, but unable to use magic to enhance and facilitate work efficiency, she'd had to resort to Muggle means like her laptop to store and file her research. It was one of the primary reasons she could not bring her work home – advances in Muggle mobile phone coverage could only just enable their operation within the wards of a magical residence, and spells had been invented to power some Muggle electronic equipment, such as televisions, but a home computer was markedly more complex. The first and last time Estella had attempted to take her laptop home cost her almost a month's research, as the ambient magic had an effect on the hard drive not unlike a lightning strike or magnetisation.

'I'm sorry my 9-to-5 isn't quite thrilling,' Estella apologised, conscious of the eyes upon her as she emptied her in tray and perched herself on the edge of the desk, filing through the stack of mail her assistant had brought in before her arrival; the woman was a Muggle, but exempt from the laws pertaining to secrecy owing to the fact her son was a Muggleborn wizard. She sounded almost admonishing, as she reminded father and son before her of their alternative. 'You could have gone with James to watch Harry induct the new recruits into the Auror's programme. With their matching Auror robes, and the Eye-Changing Candy James had taken a supply of, it would have been particularly thrilling.'

'Oh I'm sure we'll read all about it,' said Remus off-handedly, watching intently as his son rummaged through the opposite side of the desk where Estella was leaning, and retrieved a hand-sized black device.

Estella beamed at her bona fide son.  
'Atta boy, Teddy! Your father will love that... I'll have to be sure to get online and order another, so you can play against each other.'

'Brilliant!'

Remus' heart could have melted then and there at the sight of the broad smile his son wore. He was achingly curious about what his son held in his hands – past experience in the Muggle world indicating that it was a more advanced, newer generation of a hand held game system – but at the same time, Estella's smallest child remained an enigma to him. Watching her godfather favour Regulus with yet another curious glance, Estella set down her post and cleared her throat.  
'Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you,' she quipped, her grin widening as she saw her son's fingers tighten their hold on the book he was holding, his little ears positively twitching as he attempted not to be seen as listening. 'Regulus is bright as a button and, already, has gained a budding reputation for being his brother's not-so-secret little weapon; setting the traps for Sirius and Jamie's little exploits whilst the pair of them do something to attract attention... oh, don't look at me like that, Regulus Arthur; nothing gets by me. I'm your mother!'

'Mummy!' Regulus scowled, his ears turning red. He hid his head in his book, refusing to look anyone in the eye. It was, incidentally, one of the few times Remus had actually heard the boy speak.

Reading into the look on her godfather's face, Estella confirmed his thoughts.  
'He may be as introverted as his great uncle before him, and a little... selective... in his speech,' she said, emphasising the word 'selective' as though to really say he was a little delayed. 'But see that book he's holding? He's not just admiring the pictures, you know. He's reading that.'

'I seem to recall you were an early reader,' said Remus fondly, watching the studious little boy with a whole new appreciation. 'But he's only two... that truly is impressive, Estella.'

'Yes, well we have Teddy to thank for that,' Estella praised, drawing attention to the strapping young lad who had begun to busy himself with the gaming device in his hands. His head shot up, and his hair became tinged with red in anticipation of the imminent embarrassment. Estella shook her head at the automatic reaction. 'He reads to the twins every night and figured it out first; spent the time coaching Reggie with the basics so the kid could surprise us on Father's Day. Clamboured up on to the bed with Charlie as we were serving him breakfast and proceeded to read from 'Bunny goes to Budleigh Babberton' like he'd been reading all his life. I daresay it's helped with his speech development.'  
She looked over at her son, who was now watching the adults talk about him with an unreadable expression on his face.  
'Regulus, I am sure Moony would really, _really_ like it if you would read to him some time,' she suggested to her son, who unlike his twin had not been quite so forward in endearing himself to the strange new person in their lives. 'Just like Teddy taught you, and I taught Teddy... it was my Uncle Remus who taught me how to read when I was a bit older than you.'  
Regulus glanced over at Remus, a little wide-eyed. Sensing his shyness, Remus scooted down to the boy's level and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way.  
'It's OK, Regulus, if you do not wish to read aloud to me just yet,' he assured the little boy, who despite being discomforted by the attention he was getting, still managed to bravely hold the gaze of the older wizard. Recognising the trait, Remus' smile widened, and he tilted his head slightly to read the title on the spine of the book. 'I don't believe I've read that one before... maybe you can tell me about it later, hmmm?'

Regulus pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and glanced at his mother for direction. Finally, he seemed to relax and, with a small smile, nodded slightly.  
'Kay, Moony,' he said quietly... so quiet, that even with his werewolf-heightened senses, Remus almost had to strain to hear it.

On impulse, Remus reached out and ruffled the hair atop the boy's head in affection; rising to his feet, then, before the boy could react any two ways about it. Estella, meanwhile, could not help but laugh as her son dropped his book and began to flatten his mussed up hair, a slight scowl on his face. Rolling her chair out a little, she swivelled around to fully face her son, and held out her arms.  
'Oh come here, imp,' she beckoned to Regulus, patting her knee invitingly. 'Bring your book.'

The smile that graced Regulus' face was the first Remus was certain he'd seen from the boy that day, and he could only watch on in admiration as the little boy leapt from his chair and hurtled towards his mother, his book in hand. It was clear to him that Estella had a very strong and very special love for all her children, and he couldn't help but feel immensely proud of his cub.

As Estella saw to her mail and checked the status of several manuscripts on her computer – author submissions updated by Mag-E-Mail, a magical-to-electronic mailing interface – Regulus sat on his mother's lap, silently amusing himself with his book when he wasn't helping the woman direct the 'mouse'. Teddy, meanwhile, sat across the desk with his father, quietly explaining his favourite Muggle game. Eventually, Remus' curiosity got the better of him and after stealing another look out the window behind Estella's chair, broached the question.  
'All right, so just _where_ in Muggle London are we?' he blurted curiously. It was a well-appointed office, with high ceilings, tall sash windows synomynous with Georgian architecture, but old or revival, post or pre-blitz, the cosy fifth floor office and its even more cramped reception foyer gave little away, particularly not after the warren of back alleys and side streets they'd woven through to enter the building from its rear loading entrance.

Estella turned in her swivel chair to regard the view beyond the grimy Georgian panelled glass, to the narrow street below. Turning back just as quickly, she smirked knowingly at her godfather.  
'Walk out the front door, turn left, and you hit the top end of Charing Cross Road in about 150 metres,' she admitted to the wizard. At his surprised look, she smiled. 'We of course approached from the urban wasteland that is between Covent Gardens and Charing Cross. SoHo is, of course, just to the north... Leaky Cauldron and Chinatown an easy walk south-'

'Why didn't we just walk from Diagon Alley, then?' Remus asked stupidly, frowning slightly. 'Don't tell me such offices are kept _that_ secret, as to avoid being followed from the Leaky Cauldron...'

'Oh, I'm sure some people who stop by come via the pub,' admitted Estella with a slight frown of disapproval. 'Nothing I can do about that... so long as they don't Portkey or Apparate within the requisite radius they aren't breaking any laws.'  
She shook her head.  
'We're not at war, Moony. The world's more or less safe...' Estella reasured her audience as she felt her son tense and snuggle into her a little more closely, as though seeking protection. 'Save from the odd lunch in Diagon Alley, I'm just one of those people who prefer to remain a little... vigilant.'

'I easily forget who had you for Defence Against the Dark Arts one year,' said Remus lightly. 'He may not have been the real thing, but there's no debating he didn't get Mad-Eye's point across-'

'Constant Vigilance!' both Estella and Teddy said in unison, with a roll of their eyes. It had been a Killing Curse that had taken down the real Alastor Moody, in the end, and if not for the subsequent fall from his broom as his body fell to earth being enough to kill a man in itself, he might have been amongst the Returned.

'I see you've passed the lesson down a generation,' Remus observed.

'Sound advice, no matter the source,' said Estella whimsically, before shaking her head ruefully at a memory. 'You know I never have let Harry live it down... how he handed the map over to a teacher so trustingly like that. I mean if it wasn't bad enough he relinquished it to a teacher period, what about a Death Eater imposter? Whatever would James have to say about that?'

'I suggest you give Harry an opportunity to part with a sizeable bribe, so that we never have to find out,' said Remus in all manner of seriousness, though his eyes were twinkling with mischief.

Estella was quick to catch on.  
'Oh, and I suppose you would not hesitate in a counter approach, for a bribe of your own,' she said, just as flippantly. Remus responded with a wolfish smile.

Teddy looked up from his game, wide-eyed in awe.  
'Well that explains a lot,' he muttered to himself, no doubt referring to how it came to be his guardian had come to be such a unpretentious parent.

Like he had with Regulus, Remus was possessed by a sudden need to reach over and muss his son's hair affectionately. Across from them, Estella smiled broadly as Teddy mirrored her own son's reaction; pointedly flattening his hair and fighting the urge not to smile through his scowl. There was no mistaking the influence Teddy Lupin had evidently had over Estella's children.

So engrossed in their family interactions were they that they missed the exchange of words outside the office door; all remaining oblivious to the onset of an imminent visitor until the inner door of Estella's office opened to reveal one of the last people either of the visitors expected to see gracing that particular doorway.  
'Oh, it's Tuesday, isn't it?' was all Estella could say dumbly, when her godfather looked to her for explanation.

Seeing the barely contained contempt in both the eyes of Remus Lupin and the werewolf's son, the unannounced wizard faltered in his step.  
'Have I come at a bad time?'

END CHAPTER: OK, so in the spirit of American TV schedules, rather a 'cliffie' moment... but I am sure you can figure it out! Please, if not to review the story so far, I'd love to read how people would like to see this story end...


	7. History Never Repeats

**Disclaimer: **If it were mine, do you really think I'd let a day job and a post graduate degree hijack all my writing time?

**Updated: **Saturday 13 March 2010

**A/N: **Yes, I am still alive. No, I do not wish to talk about it. All I will say is that I despise the fact that real life is keeping me from pursuing the things that I love (both in terms of finishing these stories and stabilising my errant career path). Profuse apologies for keeping people waiting :(

**Chapter 7: History Never Repeats**

"The news broke days ago, Malfoy. Surely a great wizard of your education and standing would be capable of figuring out that my sister would be too busy for the likes of you today."

Teddy Lupin spun and stood in front of his family, arms folded across his chest as he practically spat at the unwelcome guest. He scowled, his hair morphing into a wild, unruly mop not unlike his godfather's as he mimicked the disdain his role model felt for the wizard now before him. "Or what, did you have to come see for yourself?"

"Theodore Remus Lupin!" Estella scolded her charge, though seemed to know better than to force the boy to apologise. "Just because your godfather indulges you with the stories you want to hear, it does not make them fact. Life is hardly black and white-"

"Estella," Remus said tightly. "Estella… this boy… this wizard; he's the reason Voldemort killed your uncle!"

Estella winced as though physically struck, Draco Malfoy standing across the room from her perfectly still, his face an expressionless mask – clearly, age had granted the Slytherin a measure of restraint he perhaps had lacked in adolescence. Severus had been one of the earliest casualties in the lead up to the final battle; Remus and his wife having just left from securing his body in the infirmary before getting struck down themselves.  
"My uncle chose to misdirect Voldemort so as to render the Elder Wand powerless against its true master. He died to ensure Harry possessed the _power he knew not_. Protecting Draco was secondary to the greater good."  
Estella's voice was low, as though she was not going to stand for being argued with on this fact.

"If it's any consolation, Professor Lupin," said Draco finally. "Regulus here is the only member of your family who can stand the sight of me."

"It's true," Estella nodded, a small smile of relief crossing her features as she noticed Draco's unprecedented politeness stump her godfather. It took everything for her to not roll her eyes – Draco had always been raised to be polite, he had just been very select to whom he'd shown that side of himself. She backed up his words.  
"Sirius is too much like his namesake to be objective, and both Charlie and I are in agreement about keeping Dora away from situations that may tempt history into repeating itself. Though Charlie would be wont to hex Draco here on sight, just because-"

"-Yeah, because he knows Draco is out to steal you from us!" Teddy seethed, growling protectively through gritted teeth.

"Charlie _suspects_, Theodore. He doesn't _know_ anything. You really should stop listening to Harry," Estella corrected the boy tiredly. Giving Draco a meaningful look, she drove her point home. "Besides, even if Draco were out to be anything more than a friend, it would all be in vain because I am committed to my family and, should any of you _ever_ doubt that, I would be very disappointed."  
Giving the gravity of her words a moment to sink in, Estella turned her attention towards making small talk with her outnumbered guest.  
"Going Muggle for me again, Draco?" she observed lightly, taking in the wizard's choice of attire in a pointed attempt to highlight to the others just how different Draco really was from his father. The wizard in question wore a pair of smart black denim trousers, with a light Muggle sports coat over a quality oxford shirt, which was slightly unbuttoned and sans tie.

"Don't flatter yourself," Draco bit back, adjusting the gold cufflinks on his jacket, as though proud of his ability to suitably coordinate a Muggle wardrobe. "Scorpius' school had a pre-term orientation," he explained uncomfortably, distracted by the glares of two wizards who still looked about ready to hex him at any given moment. "It is a shame you won't at least consider sending Regulus along; it really would appease Elsie's concerns, if nothing else."

Estella sighed.  
"Charlie and I both don't wish to see Regulus schooled separately from everyone else," she reminded him. "Even if all of my children adopted Regulus' complacency towards your family, and I got Charlie on board, there's not a snowball's chance in hell of Harry following suit with James and Albus. I won't stand for my children developing bias against your son, Draco, but my childrens' closeness with their cousins comes first. I'm afraid Scorpius is on his own on this."  
Frowning apologetically, Estella was just about to ask after Draco's family when she noticed how uncomfortable the seething looks of her family were making him. Turning to her brother and his father in turn, she threw her arms up in exasperation.  
"What more do you want him to do to prove he is 100 times the man his father could ever hope to be, huh? Draco Malfoy, in the middle of Muggle London, in Muggle clothes, talking about sending his only child and heir to a Muggle school in the hopes that the family might finally start to understand the stupidity behind so many generations of prejudice and hatred… why shouldn't I at least receive such efforts with a measure of civility?"  
Estella practically flushed in her rage. Her godfather looked pensive, bordering on reticent, but Teddy had inherited the Black family stubbornness from his mother, and glared still.  
"I give up!" she muttered, reaching across her desk and retrieving her purse. Tossing it at her unrepentant adopted brother, she dismissed her family from the room.  
"Theodore, why don't you take your father downstairs and show him the guitar shop? Ask Stu to show him the latest W-Rock range and have him take his pick-"

"No!" said Teddy petulantly, chin raised and jaw set as he openly defied the undertone in Estella's words that hinted she was not about to give either wizard a choice. Estella pursed her lips and cocked a brow at the boy, who glared back unflinchingly and held his ground. "Both Charlie and Uncle Harry said I'm to make sure you're not left alone with _him_…"

Estella's eyes narrowed dangerously.  
"Well you can be sure I'll be having _words_ with Charlie and Uncle Harry," she ground out, though she made certain to let the boy know it was not he who she was angry with, by squeezing his shoulder affectionately. Addressing both father and son with pointed looks, she shooed them from the office. "Now go, the pair of you! If anyone gives you any grief about it, you can remind them that I have Regulus with me."

"But Regulus doesn't have a wand yet!" Teddy protested weakly.

"…and you can't use yours outside the wards, so what of it?" Estella pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, Draco would never dream of hurting me."

Draco was quick to offer his own reassurances.  
"No of course not," he threw in. "I count Estella as a friend… and I value my health too much to do otherwise."

Sensing – though not entirely trusting – the congeniality in the blonde wizard's tone, Remus heeded the pleading look in his goddaughter's eyes and began to shepherd his bullheaded son towards the door.  
"Come along, Teddy," he beckoned the boy. "I trust Estella with my life… I trust that she has things in order here."  
He nodded to the other wizard in the room in acknowledgment.  
"Draco."

"Pleasure seeing you again, Professor," said Draco earnestly, though neither wizard went so far as to extend a hand.

Teddy looked like he might protest further but, with a huff and a sigh, set down his game and led his father out the door; no doubt intent on 're-educating' his father on the family's stance on all things Malfoy. The wizard in question visibly relaxed in the absence of his inquisitors.  
"Well that was awkward," he said, smirking lopsidedly as he loped forward and gave Estella a peck on the cheek in proper greeting. Squeezing her hand in his own, he stared at her intently, his face only inches from Estella's. "How are you?"

"No closer to abandoning the father of my children to run off with you… sorry," Estella drawled, her lips twitching in amusement as she teased him with the familiar line. "But it's sweet of you to come and proposition me again."

"They're listening at the door, aren't they?" said Draco loudly, amusement combating the indignation in his expression. "Shall I cast a Privacy Charm?"

"And leave things to their imagination? Do you _want _to live to see dinner or not?" Estella quipped back just as loudly.

"They've gone now, Estella!" her receptionist called out with a laugh.

Draco stepped in closer to Estella, looking at her with such intensity that the witch was certain he might attempt to kiss her proper. But before she could step back, or turn her head to the side, the taller wizard smiled tightly and directed his attention to the child in her arms.  
"How's my favourite little wizard enjoying his new book, hmm?" Draco drank in the sight of Estella's smallest son, like he was a child that should have been his. "Have you been good for your mother?"

"Hi Mr Draco," said Regulus quietly, a little thumb finding its ways into his mouth as he shifted his grip on his picture book and snuggled his head against his mother's shoulder.

When Draco held out his arms to the little boy and Regulus went to him willingly, Estella eyed the office door and sighed guiltily.  
"You know, it would rather hurt Remus to see Regulus like this with you," she admitted helplessly. "Reg's been so shy. I don't quite understand it."

"He's letting the older ones have their fill, I suppose," said Draco with a shrug. "You said yourself he's not inclined to compete with them over anything… I suspect he'll take to your godfather when people least expect it."

"He took to you so quickly, though," said Estella, sounding slightly put out. "And he copies everything Teddy does, normally…"

"Yes, but none of your other children want anything to do with me, remember? Regulus didn't have to wait in turn," Draco pointed out. "I do wish you would reconsider sending him to school with Scorpius – it's not like he won't see his siblings and cousins outside of class; it's day school! He'd certainly not be in the same classes as them no matter where you go…"

"He would be in the same class as Dora…"

"So? She can go too. It's coeducational until the age of 11."

"What, and put ideas in your father's head about your son and my daughter being made for each other after spending their formative years together? I'm sorry, but I don't want to tempt fate by giving him means like that," said Estella with a frown.

"You know I would never condone it," said Draco sincerely, and Estella was immediately contrite. No one knew better than Draco about being conditioned into developing unrequited feelings for another.

"Well you certainly wouldn't object if anything evolved organically," argued Estella weakly.

"And you would? You would object to your daughter falling in love with my son, both of their own free will?" Draco sounded wounded.

"Dora's not going to have the opportunity to fall for Scorpius one way or another," said Estella with finality. "She'll attend grammar school with her brothers and cousins, and when the time comes for her to receive her letter we may not even be on the Continent to consider a Hogwarts placement."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Draco hotly, causing Regulus to flinch in his arms.

Anticipating her son's distress, Estella snatched the boy away before either could react and put an end to their discussion before it could have opportunity to fester.  
"It means, things are a long way off and we'll cross the bridges later," she said. "What's got your wand in knots today? You seem… clingy."

"My father seeks an audience with you," said Draco wearily, getting straight to the point.

"Did you tell him where he could shove his request?" said Estella through gritted teeth. Giving the toddler in her arms a squeeze of reassurance, she sat the boy down at her desk, taking a moment to adjust the chair to his height and fetch him some paper and crayons; items she always kept on hand in her desk for moments such as this. Inviting the boy to draw a picture for 'Mr Draco' – for the man was neither an uncle nor deserving of the reputation his surname otherwise conveyed – Estella seethed inwardly. During the last war, Lucius Malfoy had truly done a number on them all. Too bigoted and set in his ways to turn spy, and equally too cowardly to turn down his master once it became clear he might lose the war, the Malfoy patriarch had pulled a Pettigrew and fooled them all. There had been no trace left of the man as he'd attempted to thrust a Portkey into an unwilling Estella's grasp that day in Flourish and Blotts so many years earlier. When Aurors had followed the path of the Portkey with a mind to investigate the attempted kidnapping, they'd uncovered an explosion at the site of his destination, the man's study and generations worth of associated treasures reduced to rubble; amongst which the only evidence of the wizard they could find had been a finger.

The next anyone – even his own family – had seen of the man was his emergence at the final battle; it being unclear as to which side the wizard had come to fight for, though later understood he'd gone to protect his son. As difficult that had been to comprehend, it couldn't be argued with.  
"I am still failing to reconcile myself with the Ministry's decision to let him out of prison at all," said Estella lowly.

"He always ran head and tail, shirking and slithering out of the more heinous acts of being a Death Eater," said Draco with clear admonishment of his father's lack of conviction. "Always a fence sitter. He didn't get his hands dirty enough."

"He got off too easy," said Estella with resentment; one of the only crimes they had been able to pin on the man in the end had been the capture and torture of herself; but because her uncle's quick thinking and Fawkes' healing left her with no physical side effects, she was not considered a sympathetic victim… especially given the outward appearances – as slammed by Malfoy's defence – that she, like he, had turned tail and ran away from the war by faking her own death.

"I agree," said Draco simply. "You can't hear me tell you enough how much I regret what his defence did to discredit you as a witness. It wasn't right."

"You're only saying that because until the moment they let him out, our families might have had the chance to co-exist."

"I'm inclined to think that's _why_ they let him out," grumbled Draco darkly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry doesn't have that kind of reach…" Estella's voice trailed off as she supposed that her godbrother likely did have that kind of influence if he wanted it. Changing tact, she cleared her throat and sought answers from the wizard. "Just why in bluebell's flames does Lucius Malfoy hope to secure an audience with me?"

"I don't know, he refused to tell me," said Draco, belying his frustration at that fact. He had obviously attempted to try and save Estella from the man's company. "Though he did threaten to Polyjuice me if I didn't agree to 'adequately convey' his message."

"Great, so if I don't go, I'm going to have to be suspicious of you when you come every Tuesday? Fantastic!" Estella was not impressed.

"I would never divulge the location of your office, Estella," Draco vowed, puffing out his chest. Quickly, he added, "and ever since he got out I've been careful to ensure he's not followed me here. Truthfully, he's been asking after you well over a year. It's only now that he knows quantifiably that he cannot reach you by any other means that he's turned to me. He's given me a memory for you to view… I insisted on seeing it first, of course… I don't trust him when it comes to you either… did you know your uncle saw my father after the day he supposedly died in that Portkey explosion? The memory my father showed me was made not long after Sev made the Unbreakable Vow with my mother-"

"That's ridiculous!" snapped Estella. "If my uncle knew Lucius Malfoy to be alive he would have warned me! He would have _killed_ him, after what he did…"

"He almost did, apparently," said Draco with a humourless smile. "Your uncle really wasn't pleased… and my father… well Father let him extend that displeasure. Despite everything, it appears that they really were friends."

"Lucius Malfoy almost killed me," Estella pointed out.

"No, he tried for a means to have you submit to him, win you for me," corrected Draco. "It doesn't excuse what he did, Merlin's balls no, but he believed your uncle had an antidote to those potions and that there wouldn't be any long term damage."

"Oh that's a likely story… not!" scowled Estella. "He sold me out to Voldemort! Did you forget that?"

Draco looked like he had an answer to everything. Clearly he had grilled his father extensively about his motives.  
"He was foolishly optimistic that an audience with the Dark Lord would turn you in his favour; see a union between our families as, I don't know, the lesser of two evils," said Draco sourly, still smarting with the knowledge that Estella saw such association with him as distasteful. Shaking his head, he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "Believe it or not, Severus was a friend to my father… no, Estella, hear me out on this! He was as friend as my father as a Slytherin could be, if you want a definition. He was never adverse to the notion of you and I ending up together – even you cannot deny that – he just wanted the choice to truly be your own. He refused to raise you as I was raised… to believe there was no one else. He held off our introduction until you were old enough to draw your own impressions, did he not? Do you really think if he wasn't a friend to my father, that he would permit us to meet outside of school at all? I consider us good friends and yet my son does not get to associate with your children!"

"There's no comparison, Draco. My uncle _was_ a spy," said Estella.

"Bullshit, Estella. You know he never would have stood for you to be dragged into the middle of all of that! He loved you too much to put you in that sort of danger!" said Draco heatedly.

"What would you know about how I was raised, Draco?" Estella snapped back, careful to keep her voice level, lest she distress her son. Glancing back at her boy to see he was watching quietly, but not particularly bothered – the lad scribbling absently on the page and looking as though, if he had the motor skills to do so, he might roll his eyes at the grown up's theatrics – she steeled herself, comfortably in the knowledge that Regulus knew, as did she, that Draco posed no threat.  
"You have no comprehension of how manipulative Albus Dumbledore could be!" she said bitterly. "Not only did he all but set Harry up to sacrifice himself for 'the greater good', conditioning him to believe he was the only person – the only person, Draco – who could end the war, but he was all for my joining Severus' side as a spy! My uncle may have hated the idea, but Dumbledore had him over the barrel…"

"…and yet, when push came to shove and things really started getting dangerous, he faked your death pretty well, hmm?" said Draco triumphantly.

"I seem to recall Dumbledore being removed from the equation around the same time," said Esella quietly. "Had my father never gotten out of Azkaban… and had Dumbledore not arranged for my uncle to euthanize him after cursing himself with that ring, I would never have stood a chance of remaining dead by my own terms as I did. Magic or no magic, Dumbledore would have kept me on his chessboard… for the greater good… and there wouldn't have been diddly squat anyone could have done about it."

"I seem to recall stories of you putting the old man in his place on more than one occasion," smirked Draco. "Actually, you never have confirmed for me the rumour that the man's own familiar abandoned him for you, before he went down – I've read about the connection Phoenixes have with their wizard familiars; how it is the phoenix that chooses the wizard, and how there are so few of them…"

Estella thought of the great magical bird that hadn't graced her with its presence ever since she lost a handle of her magic, and snorted derisively.  
"Just because the blasted feathery pyromaniac happened to heal me with its tears a few times… I honestly have no idea where people draw their conclusions from," she deadpanned, though she could not help but rub subtly at the hand Fawkes had marked so many years ago, when her premature induction into the Order of the Phoenix had brought with it such unexpected revelations.

"You're never going to tell me, one way or another, are you?" sighed Draco.

"I won't insult you by indulging you such explanations," said Estella shrewdly, confirming his suspicions by more Slytherin means. Glancing back at her son once more and quietly appraising his work before turning her back on him and hoisting herself up on to the edge of the desk, she drew attention back to the purpose of this particular visit of Draco's.  
"All right, so you didn't stop by for your usual Starbucks and cake," she concluded. "And so assuming my uncle and your father were, despite everything that happened, for whatever reason, however unlikely, they remained on civil enough terms to not kill each other on sight - I'm going out on a limb trying to wrap my head around this, mind – what kind of memory could your father possibly possess that would be of immediate, relevant, interest to me?"

"Why don't you view it for yourself and find out?" suggested Draco silkily, extracting a small crystal vial from the inner breast pocket of his sports coat and pressing it into her hand after demonstrating with a quick spell that it was not a Portkey. "Typically enough, it only shows you enough to assure you safe passage in his presence. I tried…" Draco looked sympathetic "…to get more details from the man, but the only thing he would tell me is that he needed to see you to ensure 'his part in it' was upheld, to make sure you received that which your uncle later left with him, of all people."

Estella's eyes narrowed, as she studied the innocent vial in her hand.  
"Uphold his part in what, exactly?" she asked skeptically, already wholly disbelieving that her uncle could ever have left anything of value with the likes of Lucius Malfoy.

"The Unbreakable Vow your uncle made him swear," said Draco solemnly, gesturing towards the mem ory in Estella's hand. "It's all in the memory… the terms, I mean."

END CHAPTER

Next Chapter: Estella confronts Lucius Malfoy for the first time since her testimony had seen the resilient wizard imprisoned in Azkaban, 10 years previously.


End file.
